Cambridge-based Biogen has agreed to pay $900 million to resolve allegations stemming from a whistleblower lawsuit alleging the pharmaceutical company paid kickbacks to physicians to induce them to prescribe the company's multiple sclerosis drugs.
The U.S. Attorney's office said late Monday that the settlement resolves the suit filed by former Biogen employee Michael Bawduniak under provisions of the False Claims Act that permit a private party, known as a relator, to file suit on behalf of the United States and receive a portion of any recovery. Bawduniak will receive a share of the $843.8 million that Biogen will pay to the United States, prosecutors wrote in their press release late Monday without disclosing the share amount.
Bawduniak was awarded a total of $266.4 million, according to a news release Tuesday morning from Greene LLP, the law firm representing Bawduniak, which includes a $250 million share of the money paid to the federal government by Biogen. The remaining $16.4 million comes from the money paid to individual states. According to the release, the $250 million federal award is the highest whistleblower award in United States history.
The suit alleged Biogen violated the False Claims Act by "causing the submission of false claims to Medicare and Medicaid by paying kickbacks to physicians to induce them to prescribe Biogen drugs."
Bawduniak's complaint alleged that from Jan. 1, 2009 through March 18, 2014, Biogen "held programs through which it offered and...
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