Warner Chilcott, a pharmaceutical company based in New Jersey, was ordered last week to pay $125 million for engaging in fraudulent pharmaceutical advertising.
A US District Court judge in Boston, Massachusetts, sentenced the company to pay a combination of $20.7 million in criminal fines, over $197,000 in insurance restitution, and a whopping $102 million in civil settlements, as well as forfeiting $2 million.
The company had previously pled guilty to these health care fraud felonies in October 2015.
Background on Warner Chilcott
Warner Chilcott was purchased by Actavis in 2013. However, in 2014, Actavis purchased Botox-manufacturer Allergan and then adopted the latter’s better-known big pharma name as its own.
The drugs involved in Warner Chilcott’s fraudulent pharmaceutical advertising case include Actonel, Asacol, Atelvia, Doryx, Enablex, Estrace, and Loestrin.
Bold-Faced Pharmaceutical Fraud
The list of crimes attributed to Warner Chilcott is stunning in its blatant disregard for the law. The US Department of Justice says the fraudulent activities occurred from 2009 to 2013 and included not just illegal activities but also attempts to cover them up. Here’s a taste of Warner Chilcott’s rap sheet:
- Expensive meals, “speaking fees,” and kickbacks were used to get physicians to write more prescriptions.
- The pharma company hosted bogus “Medical Education Events” which contained little or no educational content but gave doctors a free boondoggle opportunity.
- Company employees posed as doctors and submitted fraudulent authorization requests to fleece federal healthcare programs.
- Warner Chilcott defrauded insurance companies to get around restrictions for its more expensive drugs.
- The company made unsupported and fraudulent claims of product superiority in its marketing.
Employees & Doctors Involved in a “Conspiracy to Commit Fraud”
The Justice Department also put some of Warner Chilcott’s employees behind bars for their individual contributions to the crimes.
- Two district managers pled guilty to “conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA.)” A third district manager was charged with the same crime but did not plead guilty.
- A Massachusetts doctor was charged for exchanging kickbacks and bogus speaking fees in return for increased prescribing.
Inspector General Daniel Levinson of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) commented on the judgment, saying, “Placing financial gain above the legitimate needs of patients is deplorable.”
The judgment in the Warner Chilcott case may be one of the last major fines in pharmaceutical advertising, as the FDA recently lost ground in regulating pharma marketing in another lawsuit.
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