Pharma, whistleblower lessons learned from $900M Biogen settlement
By 
Adrianne Appel2022-10-11T15:45:00
The high price on Biogen’s $900 million settlement for False Claims Act (FCA) violations shows the government is still keenly interested in cases of illegal kickbacks in physician referrals, experts and attorneys said.
“It’s a wake-up call to companies that they need to remain diligent in their compliance in this area,” said David Colapinto, partner at whistleblower law firm Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto.
Last month, Biogen finalized settlement of the lawsuit, after years of litigation by former employee Michael Bawduniak. Bawduniak, represented by boutique law firm Greene, alleged the company paid illegal kickbacks to doctors to induce them to prescribe Biogen’s multiple sclerosis drugs.
Related articles
-
News BriefSEC levies no fine against Kiromic BioPharma after material omissions self-disclosure
Kiromic BioPharma will pay no fine to the Securities and Exchange Commission after self-reporting that it failed to disclose material information about two cancer drugs to investors.
-
ArticleBiogen finalizes $900M settlement in false claims whistleblower suit
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.
-
ArticleEssilor agrees to $22M settlement over kickback charges
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.
More from Regulatory Enforcement
-
News BriefCFPB ends probe into Meta’s financial advertising practices
Meta says it is no longer under investigation by the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the latest instance of the agency scaling back enforcement under President Donald Trump.
-
News BriefTexas sues Johnson & Johnson, Kenvue over alleged misleading marketing of Tylenol
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued two pharmaceutical companies for ”deceptively marketing Tylenol to pregnant mothers” despite risks linked to autism. The filing came two days before HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appeared to walk back the claims.
-
News BriefCFPB scraps bad-actor registry, citing cost-benefit issues
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau shut down a registry of non-bank financial firms that broke consumer laws. The agency cites the costs being ”not justified by the speculative and unquantified benefits to consumers.”