- Chief Compliance Officer and VP of Legal Affairs, Arrow Electronics
By 
Adrianne Appel2022-09-27T19:04:00
Biogen finalized a $900 million settlement concerning alleged kickbacks it paid to doctors to induce them to prescribe the company’s drugs and not those of its competitors, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Monday.
Biogen made the alleged payments to try and dampen competition for its multiple sclerosis (MS) drugs, including Avonex, Tysabri, and Tecfidera, according to the settlement.
The agreement, first disclosed by Biogen in July, ends years of litigation dating back to 2012, when former employee Michael Bawduniak blew the whistle on the alleged kickbacks. He filed a lawsuit against the company in U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, citing violations of the False Claims Act (FCA).
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Experts discuss the ramifications of Biogen’s $900 million settlement for False Claims Act violations, including the $266.4 million whistleblower bounty in the case believed to be the largest single award under any government program.
Philips RS North America agreed to pay approximately $1.3 million to settle charges it unlawfully paid kickbacks as part of its second resolution addressing alleged False Claims Act violations this month.
Essilor, a manufacturer and distributor of optical lenses and equipment, will pay $22 million to settle allegations it paid kickbacks to spur sales in violation of the False Claims Act.
DaVita, a multi-state dialysis provider, agreed to pay more than $34 million to resolve allegations it engaged in numerous kickback schemes to doctors who referred Medicare patients to its dialysis centers, the Department of Justice announced.
A multi-state hospice home health provider agreed to pay $19.4 million to settle allegations that it paid kickbacks and knowingly billed federal health programs to treat non-terminally ill patients.
California-based cancer testing company Guardant Health agreed to pay more than $945,000 to settle allegations levied by the Department of Justice of violating the False Claims Act and Stark Law.
