Posted on October - 12 - 2010
Tennessee will get $4.1 million in an agreement with Novartis to settle kickback allegations
Tennessee will receive $4.1 million in an agreement with drug maker Novartis to settle allegations that the company paid kickbacks to doctors and improperly marketed drugs.
The money is part of a joint settlement with other states and the federal government that totals $237.5 million.
Government agencies alleged that New Jersey-based Novartis used kickback schemes to encourage doctors to prescribe Trileptal, a drug approved to treat partial seizures in patients who have epilepsy, for unapproved uses such as the treatment of bipolar disorder and neuropathic pain.
Tennessee officials said TennCare paid $50.5 million for Trileptal from 2000 to 2007. Of that, $37.4 million was for off-label diagnoses.
Novartis was also alleged to have illegally paid for speaker programs, advisory boards and gifts including entertainment, travel and meals to health care professionals to induce them to promote and prescribe Trileptal, Diovan, Zelnorm, Sandostatin, Exforge and Tekturna.
The settlement will pay damages and penalties for losses to Medicaid and other federal health care programs.
“Health care choices shouldn’t be influenced by vacations, gifts and kickbacks like those alleged in this case,” Tennessee Attorney General Bob Cooper said Tuesday in a statement.
“We applaud the actions of all the states and federal government officials who participated in this collaborative effort that will help offset the harm caused by these unfair marketing actions.”
The agreement is based on four separate whistle-blower lawsuits filed by private individuals. Three of the cases were consolidated in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Another was filed in the Middle District of Florida under state and federal false claims statutes.
“I commend those private individuals who came forward to expose those improperly promoting drugs to reap a financial reward,” said Tennessee Bureau of Investigation director Mark Gwyn.
“A price tag can’t be put on someone who suffered harm, but this penalty will hopefully make companies rethink their marketing practices.”
Novartis will also be closely monitored by the Office of the Inspector General of the United States Department of Health and Human Services under a corporate integrity agreement.
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