Pharma Fraud

April 1, 2020

A physician’s assistant in Louisiana, Stephen Honeycutt, has agreed to pay $620,500 for accepting illegal kickbacks from OK Compounding, LLC, which has been involved in multiple enforcement actions of a similar nature across the country.  Over a period of about six months in 2013, Honeycutt prescribed expensive compounded pain creams to patients, many of whom were Medicare and TRICARE beneficiaries, in exchange for kickbacks disguised as medical director fees.  USAO NDOK

March 20, 2020

A doctor in Florida has paid the United States $850,000 to settle claims of violating the Anti-Kickback and False Claims Acts.  In exchange for prescribing a powerful but highly addictive fentanyl spray, Subsys, to her patients, Dr. Parveen Khanna allegedly took illegal kickbacks from manufacturer Insys Pharmaceuticals, Inc that were disguised as speaker fees, then submitted claims for reimbursement to Medicare and TRICARE in violation of program rules prohibiting payment for kickback-induced services.  USAO MDFL

March 2, 2020

Pharmaceutical manufacturer Sandoz Inc. will pay a $195 million criminal penalty and enter into a deferred prosecution agreement to resolve claims that it conspired with competing manufacturers to allocate customers, rig bids, and fix prices for generic drugs.  DOJ

February 28, 2020

Cardinal Health, a pharmaceutical company in Ohio, has agreed to pay more than $8 million to resolve charges of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.  Between 2010 and 2016, the company's China branch allegedly made payments to government-employed healthcare professionals and retail companies on behalf of a European dermocosmetic company whose products Cardinal China distributed.  Additionally, the company took part in a profit-sharing agreement with the dermocosmetic company, and failed to maintain complete records on the affected accounts.  As part of the settlement, Cardinal Health will cease and desist and pay $5.4 million in disgorgement, $916,887 in prejudgment interest, and $2.5 million in civil penalty.  SEC

February 28, 2020

Sanofi-Aventis U.S., LLC has agreed to pay $11.85 million to resolve allegations of paying kickbacks to Medicare patients in connection with a multiple sclerosis drug called Lemtrada.  According to the press release, Lemtrada costs nearly $100,000 per patient per year, and Medicare co-pays can be many thousands of dollars per year.  In order to break down barriers to access for Medicare patients, Sanofi allegedly provided kickbacks to them via payments to a purportedly independent charitable foundation, The Assistance Fund (TAF), which helps covers the co-pays in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute.  The scheme was reported by a partnership formed by Sanofi's predecessor, Genzyme Corporation, which will receive about $2.7 million for their role in the case.  USAO MA

February 26, 2020

The two owners and operators of Royal Care Pharmacy in Los Angeles have been ordered to pay restitution of $11.8 million to Medicare and $17,000 to Cigna after being found guilty of healthcare fraud and money laundering.  Aleksandr Suri and Maxim Sverdlov were also sentenced to 12 years in prison.  From 2012 to 2015, the two had fraudulently billed Medicare and Cigna for prescription medications that were not purchased or dispensed to beneficiaries, hiding the conspiracy and laundering the proceeds through fake invoices.  DOJ

February 25, 2020

In a global settlement agreement with states and local entities, Mallinckrodt, the largest generic opioid manufacturer in the United States, has agreed to pay at least $1.6 billion in cash to a trust that would help fund treatment for opioid addiction.  Mallinckrodt also agreed to be subject to stringent injunctive terms, including prohibitions on the marketing of its opioid products and safeguards to prevent them from ending up in the wrong hands.  The pharmaceutical company had earlier paid $35 million to the DOJ for other opioid related charges.  CA AG; FL AG; GA AG; VA AG