Attorney General Jeff Jackson announced that Gilead Sciences will pay $202 million to resolve claims that it paid kickbacks to doctors in exchange for promoting its HIV medications, resulting in millions of dollars of false claims submitted to government health care programs, including North Carolina’s Medicaid program. According to a news release from the North Carolina Department of Justice (NCDOJ) North Carolina’s Medicaid program will receive $760,106 from the settlement in principle, which was reached in partnership with the U.S. Department of Justice and 48 other states and came from a qui tam lawsuit. (this type of lawsuit allows private individuals to sue on behalf of the government to recover funds lost due to fraud).
From January 2011 to November 2017, Gilead paid kickbacks by providing gifts to health care providers who attended and spoke at promotional speaker programs for Gilead’s HIV drugs. Gilead paid these speakers, who prescribed Gilead drugs at high rates, tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars to present at events. The company also covered travel expenses for speakers, including those traveling long distances and to attractive destinations, such as Hawaii, Miami, and New Orleans, and hosted dinners at high-end restaurants.
Gilead’s internal compliance mechanisms failed to halt these kickbacks. The company’s policies and procedures didn’t prevent sales representatives from improperly offering incentives to get more prescriptions of the company’s drugs....
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