On January 4, 2013, the Attorney General for Texas, Greg Abbott, announced that Pfizer, Inc. and Endo Pharmaceuticals will pay $36 million to settle a whistleblower suit filed under Texas’ Medicaid Fraud Prevention Act. The settlement resolves allegations that the companies defrauded Medicaid by misreporting the price of generic drugs for the Medicaid program.
On January 10, 2013, a pharmaceutical company based in San Diego, Victory Pharma, Inc., agreed to pay $11.4 Million to resolve allegations that it improperly marketed its pharmaceutical products. It is alleged that Victory violated the federal Anti-Kickback Statute and False Claims Act by paying kickbacks to doctors who prescribe the company’s drugs.
On January 7, 2013, the U.S. Department of Justice announced a settlement resolving False Claims Act allegations against EMH Regional Medical Center (“EMH”) and North Ohio Art Center, Inc. (“NOHC”). It was alleged that EMH and NOHC performed unnecessary stent procedures on patients between 2001 and 2006, including those reimbursed by Medicare.
Amgen, one of the world’s largest biotechnology companies, agreed to pay $762 million to resolve criminal and civil allegations that it marketed its drug Aranesp for off-label uses. Of the $762 million, $612 million will be used to settle a number of whistleblower suits brought under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act,
Two subsidiaries of France-based drug manufacturer Sanofi, Sanofi-Aventis, Inc. and Sanofi-Aventis, LLC, agreed to pay $109 million to the U.S. to resolve allegations that it violated the federal False Claims Act by providing units of its knee injection, Hyalgan, to physicians for free in order to induce them to buy and prescribe Hyalgan in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute.
Pfizer agreed to pay $55 million to the U.S. government for marketing its drug Protonix, approved to treat erosive esophagitis, for unapproved use. According to the Justice Department, Pfizer promoted Protonix for all forms of gastroesophageal reflux disease even though it is only approved for short-term treatment of erosive esophagitis.
The Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the Department of Health & Human Services has announced that it expects to recover approximately $6.9 billion in fiscal year 2012. Of this amount, $923.8 million is attributable to audit receivables and $6 billion to investigative receivables. OIG also reported that approximately $8.5 billion has been saved as a result of legislative,
The United States Department of Justice has announced that Baylor University Medical Center, Baylor Health Care System and HealthTexas Provider Network (collectively referred to as “Baylor”) have agreed to pay $907,355 to revolve charges that they submitted false claims to Medicare, the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services and the Federal Employees Health Benefit Program.
Pfizer Inc.’s Wyeth Unit plans to plead guilty to a misdemeanor “misbranding” offense under federal law as part of a $491 million settlement of a government investigation of the company’s promotion of the organ-transplant drug Rapamune. The DOJ has been investigating allegation that Wyeth promoted Rapmune for unauthorized uses and paid kickbacks to doctors.
The Swiss-based pharmaceutical giant Novartis will pay Texas $19.9 million to settle allegations that it violated the False Claims Act. The whistleblower in this case, Donald Galmines, is a former Novartis marketing representative. Galmines’s suit alleges that the pharmaceutical manufacturer falsely marketed its drug, Elidel, which has been approved by the FDA for use on patients ages two and up who suffer from eczema and who were not seeing results from the “first-line” treatment options.
If you are aware of any person, corporation or entity that you think may be violating the Federal False Claims Act or a State False Claims Act, contact us today.