A 2024 Department of Justice announcement revealed that Medisca Inc., a pharmaceutical ingredient supplier, agreed to pay $21.75 million to resolve False Claims Act allegations. The DOJ alleged that Medisca's pricing scheme caused pharmacies that purchased its ingredients to submit inflated prescription claims to the Defense Health Agency, allowing them to fraudulently bill federal healthcare programs, often thousands of dollars per prescription. The case was initiated by a pharmacist who … [Read more...]
Pharmaceutical Fraud: Off Label Marketing, Kickbacks, and False Claims Act Liability
Pharmaceutical Fraud: Off Label Marketing, Kickbacks, and False Claims Act Liability Pharmaceutical companies have produced some of the largest False Claims Act settlements in history, and enforcement in this area continues at a significant pace. The conduct at the center of these cases follows patterns that have repeated across the industry for decades: drugs promoted for uses the FDA has not approved, kickback payments disguised as speaker fees or consulting arrangements, and prescriptions … [Read more...]
Prescription drug price fraud persists; whistleblowers help root it out
The federal government has been working to make pricey prescription drugs more affordable for the roughly 54.1 million people who are enrolled in the Medicare prescription program, known as Part D. However, fraud threatens to cost both the government and individuals suffering from health conditions significant amounts of money. Whistleblowers — working people who witness wrongdoing and courageously report it — can play a key role in protecting both. The government has been pursuing drug … [Read more...]