Pharma Fraud
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July 2, 2020
Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will pay $21 million to resolve SEC charges that it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Alexion subsidiaries in Turkey and Russia were alleged to have made payments to foreign officials in those countries in order to secure favorable regulatory treatment for Alexion’s drug Soliris, and to increase the number of prescriptions for the drug. The Turkish and Russian subsidiaries, as well as Alexion subsidiaries in Brazil and Colombia, falsified their books and records with respect to improper payments, and Alexion’s internal accounting controls were not adequate to detect or prevent the improper payments and accounting. SECCatch of the Week: Novartis Pays $729 Million to Settle Two Kickback Cases on Heels of $345 Million Foreign Bribery Settlement
Posted 07/2/20
July 1, 2020
Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation will pay a total of $678 million to resolve a case brought by a whistleblower, Oswald Bilotta, alleging that between 2002 and 2011 the pharmaceutical company violated the Anti-Kickback Statute and False Claims Act by providing doctors with cash payments and luxury travel and meals to induce them to prescribe Novartis cardiovascular and diabetes drugs reimbursed by federal healthcare programs. The total settlement consists of $591.4 million as federal FCA damages, $48.2 million as state FCA damages for Medicaid false claims submitted to 28 states and the District of Columbia, and $38.4 million as forfeiture under the Anti-Kickback Statute. The whistleblower award has not yet been determined. In addition to the monetary settlement, Novartis entered into a Corporate Integrity Agreement obligating the company to, among other things, significantly reduce its volume and spending on paid speaker programs. DOJ; USAO SDNY; CA AG; MI AG; NY AGJuly 1, 2020
Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation will pay $51.25 million to resolve claims that it unlawfully funneled money to three different foundations – The Assistance Fund, the National Organization for Rare Disorders, and the Chronic Disease Fund – so that those organizations could fund co-payments owed by Medicare beneficiary patients prescribed the Novartis drugs Gilenya (for multiple sclerosis) and Afinitor (for renal cell carcinoma and certain pancreatic cancers). The payments were alleged to be in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute and False Claims Act. USAO Mass; DOJJune 30, 2020
Ophthalmic Consultants, P.A. and its principal Robert K. Snyder have agreed to pay $4.8 million to resolve claims that they unlawfully billed federal healthcare programs for the drugs ranibizumab (Lucentis®) and aflipercept (Eylea®). While the drugs are sold in single-use vials, defendants used single vials to provide doses to multiple patients, allowing them to obtain excessive reimbursement from Medicare, TRICARE, and the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. USAO MD FLJune 25, 2020
George Philip Tompkins of Houston, Texas, the former owner of Piney Point Pharmacy, was sentenced to ten years in prison following his conviction on charges of healthcare fraud, unlawful kickbacks, money laundering, and wire fraud. Tompkins billed $21.8 million to federal and state worker’s compensation programs for medically unnecessary compound gels and creams, paying kickbacks to generate prescriptions while claiming that the kickbacks were legitimate marketing expenses. Thompson was also ordered to pay restitution of $12.3 million. DOJRegeneron: The Government’s Latest Stand against Patient Kickbacks
Posted 06/25/20
