Daiichi Sankyo Inc., the U.S. arm of major Japanese pharmaceutical company Daiichi Sankyo Co., has agreed to pay $39 million to settle allegations that it paid for lavish dinners and speaking fees for doctors to entice them to prescribe certain drugs.
The company allegedly paid physicians kickbacks in the form of speaker fees and dinners from 2004 to 2011 to induce them to prescribe medications including Azor, Benicar, Tribenzor and Welchol, resulting in false claims to Medicaid and Medicare, according to the federal government.
Daiichi Sankyo released a statement Friday saying it cooperated fully with the government's investigation and was pleased to have finalized a settlement.
"We are committed to being an ethical, trusted and respected company, and constantly improving how we operate is part of our culture,” said Ken Keller, president of U.S. commercial operations for Parsippany, N.J.-based Daiichi Sankyo Inc., in the statement. “As part of our compliance program, we continue to review and strengthen our policies, procedures and processes to ensure compliance with applicable laws, regulations and industry standards, and to meet our own high ethical standards."
The fees were allegedly paid even when doctors took turns speaking on duplicative topics and spoke only to members of their own staffs in their own offices. Daiichi paid more than $140 per person for some of the dinners at which the doctors spoke, according to the government.
Former Daiichi sales representative Kathy Fragoules filed the original lawsuit under the False Claims Act. Under that law, whistle-blowers are entitled to a portion of any money the government is able to recover. In this case, Fragoules will get $6.1 million, according to the U.S. Justice Department.
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