Pharma Fraud Archives - Page 34 of 38

March 10, 2015

Johnson & Johnson subsidiary McNeil-PPC Inc. pleaded guilty to selling adulterated infants’ and children’s over-the-counter liquid medicines, including Infants’ and Children’s Tylenol Motrin. As part of the criminal resolution, McNeil agreed to pay a criminal fine of $20 million and forfeit $5 million. DOJ

Tagged in: CGMP Violation, Pharma Fraud,

February 24, 2015

Louisiana oncologist Prabhjit S. Purewal agreed to pay $550,000 to settle allegations he defrauded Medicare, Tricare and Medicaid in violation of the False Claims Act by billing for chemotherapy drugs not approved by the FDA. Dr. Purewal purchased the drugs from UK-based drug distributor Warwick Healthcare Solutions, Inc. (also known as Richard’s Pharma), which did not have a license to distribute drugs in the US. DOJ

Tagged in: FCA Federal, Off-Label and Unapproved Use, Other Government Health Programs, Pharma Fraud, Provider Fraud,

February 13, 2015

Illinois physician Dr. Michael J. Reinstein pleaded guilty to the crime of receiving illegal kickbacks and benefits totaling nearly $600,000 from pharmaceutical manufacturer Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. and its subsidiary IVAX LLC in exchange for regularly prescribing the anti-psychotic drug clozapine to his patients. Reinstein also agreed to pay $3.79M to settle a parallel civil lawsuit alleging he violated the False Claims Act for causing the submission of false claims to Medicare and Medicaid for the clozapine he prescribed for thousands of elderly and indigent patients in at least 30 Chicago-area nursing homes and other facilities. In March 2014, Teva Pharmaceuticals and IVAX paid $27.6M million for their role in the kickback scheme. DOJ

Tagged in: Anti-Kickback and Stark, FCA Federal, Lack of Medical Necessity, Pharma Fraud, Provider Fraud,

February 11, 2015

Delaware-based pharmaceutical manufacturer AstraZeneca LP agreed to pay $7.9M to settle charges it violated the False Claims Act by engaging in an illegal kickback scheme with pharmacy benefit manager Medco Health Solutions. The government alleged, among other things, that AstraZeneca agreed to provide remuneration to Medco in exchange for Medco maintaining for AstraZeneca’s Nexium drug “sole and exclusive” status on certain Medco formularies and through other marketing activities. The charges originated with a whistleblower lawsuit filed by former AstraZeneca employees Paul DiMattia and F. Folger Tuggle under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act. They will collectively receive a whistleblower award of $1,422,000. Whistleblower Insider

Tagged in: Anti-Kickback and Stark, FCA Federal, Pharma Fraud, Whistleblower Case, Whistleblower Rewards,

January 16, 2015

A federal court in California issued an injunction shutting down Health One Pharmaceuticals Inc., a manufacturer of dietary supplements and unapproved new drugs. The firm and its president, Richard S. Yeh, agreed to shut down and resolve the lawsuit as part of a consent decree. The government alleged, among other things, the defendants failed to meet current good manufacturing practices for dietary supplements by failing to conduct appropriate testing and misbranding the supplements because their labels did not include all the information required by federal law. DOJ

Tagged in: CGMP Violation, Off-Label and Unapproved Use, Pharma Fraud,

January 9, 2015

Global pharmaceutical company Daiichi Sankyo Inc. agreed to pay $39 million to resolve allegations it violated the False Claims Act by paying kickbacks to induce physicians to prescribe Daiichi drugs, including Azor, Benicar, Tribenzor and Welchol. According to the government, Daiichi paid physicians improper kickbacks in the form of speaker fees as part of Daiichi’s Physician Organization and Discussion programs which were often just lavish dinners with the speaking physicians’ own medical group or staff. The charges originated with a whistleblower lawsuit filed by former Daiichi sales representative Kathy Fragoules under the whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act. She will receive a whistleblower award of $6.1 million. DOJ

Tagged in: Anti-Kickback and Stark, FCA Federal, Pharma Fraud, Whistleblower Case, Whistleblower Rewards,

December 3, 2014

Rite Aid Corporation agreed to pay $3M to resolve allegations it violated the False Claims Act by offering illegal inducements to Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries to transfer their prescriptions to Rite Aid pharmacies. The government alleged that from 2008 to 2010, Rite Aid had improperly influenced the decisions of Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries to transfer their prescriptions to Rite Aid pharmacies by offering them gift cards in exchange for their business. The charges originated in a whistleblower complaint filed by Jack Chin under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act. Chin will receive a whistleblower award of approximately $500,000. DOJ

Tagged in: Drug and DME Pricing, FCA Federal, Pharma Fraud, Whistleblower Case, Whistleblower Rewards,

June 25, 2014

Omnicare Inc., the nation’s largest provider of pharmaceuticals and pharmacy services to nursing homes, agreed to pay $124M to resolve charges it violated the Anti-Kickback Statute and the False Claims Act by providing improper financial incentives to skilled nursing facilities in return for their continued selection of Omnicare to supply drugs to elderly Medicare and Medicaid patients. The government’s action against Omnicare originated with two lawsuits filed by whistleblowers under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act. The first whistleblower, former Omnicare employee Donald Gale, will receive roughly $17M out of the government’s recovery. Whistleblower Insider

Tagged in: Anti-Kickback and Stark, FCA Federal, Multiple Whistleblowers and First-to-File, Pharma Fraud, SNF, Whistleblower Case, Whistleblower Rewards,

March 11, 2014

Generic pharmaceutical giant Teva Pharmaceuticals and its IVAX subsidiary have agreed to pay $27.6M for allegedly violating the False Claims Act by making payments to induce prescriptions of an anti-psychotic drug for Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries. DOJ

Tagged in: FCA Federal, Pharma Fraud,

February 27, 2014

Omnicare Inc., an Ohio-based long-term care pharmacy, agreed to pay $4.2M to settle allegations that it engaged in a kickback scheme in violation of the False Claims Act. The allegations were first raised in a qui tam lawsuit filed under the whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act.DOJ

Tagged in: Anti-Kickback and Stark, FCA Federal, Pharma Fraud, Whistleblower Case,

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