October 29, 2015

Warner Chilcott US Sales LLC, a subsidiary of pharmaceutical manufacturer Warner Chilcott PLC, agreed to plead guilty to a felony charge of health care fraud as part of a global settlement in which Warner Chilcott agreed to pay $125 million to resolve its criminal and civil liability arising from illegally marketing the drugs Actonel, Asacol, Atelvia, Doryx, Enablex, Estrace and Loestrin in violation of the False Claims Act and Anti-Kickback Statute.  Specifically, the government charged that between 2009 and 2013, Warner Chilcott paid physicians to induce them to prescribe Warner Chilcott drugs.  The government also alleged that Warner Chilcott employees submitted false or misleading prior authorization requests and other coverage requests to federal health care programs for the osteoporosis medications Atelvia and Actonel.  The government further claimed that Warner Chilcott employees were instructed by members of the company’s management team to make unsubstantiated superiority claims when marketing the drug Actonel.  The allegations first arose in a whistleblower lawsuit by two former Warner Chilcott sales representatives filed under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act.  The whistleblowers will receive a whistleblower award of approximately $22.9 million from the federal share of the civil recovery.  Whistleblower Insider

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