Michael Bawduniak worked for Biogen, a Massachusetts-based pharmaceutical company. In April 2012, Bawduniak filed a qui tam lawsuit against Biogen: the lawsuit was amended in 2013 and 2016. Bawduniak alleged that Biogen violated the False Claims Act and the Anti-Kickback Statute. A little over ten years later, on September 26, 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that Biogen will pay $900 million to resolve allegations of False Claims Act violations.
The qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act enable private citizens to file lawsuits on behalf of the government if they know of an individual or company defrauding the government. Qui tam whistleblowers are eligible to receive between 15 and 30% of the government’s recovery, if one occurs.
Bawduniak “alleged that Biogen paid kickbacks to physicians to induce them to prescribe the company’s multiple sclerosis drugs.” His complaints allege that “from Jan. 1, 2009, through March 18, 2014, Biogen held programs through which it offered and paid remuneration, including speaker honoraria, speaker training fees, consulting fees and meals, to health care professionals who spoke at or attended Biogen’s speaker programs, speaker training meetings or consultant programs to induce them to prescribe the drugs Avonex, Tysabri and Tecfidera in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute.”
According to the Stipulation and Order of Settlement document, this alleged activity “thereby caused false claims for prescriptions for those...
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