A settlement has been reached to resolve False Claims Act allegations against Forest Laboratories and Forest Pharmaceuticals.
The allegations arose from a lawsuit that claimed Forest Laboratories and Forest Pharmaceuticals paid kickbacks to induce physicians to prescribe the drugs Bystolic, Savella, and Namenda. These drugs are used to treat hypertension, fibromyalgia and Alzheimers.
According to the Department of Justice, this settlement resolves allegations that Forest violated the Anti-Kickback Statute, which prohibits the payment of remuneration to induce referrals of items or services covered by federal health care programs, by providing payments and meals to certain physicians in connection with speaker programs about Bystolic, Savella, or Namenda between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2011.
The United States contends that the payments and meals were intended as improper inducements because Forest provided these benefits even when the programs were cancelled (and Forest provided no evidence of a bona fide reason for the cancellation), when no licensed health care professionals attended the programs, when the same attendees had attended multiple programs over a short period of time, or when the meals associated with the programs exceeded Forest’s internal cost limitations.
The federal government will receive $35.5 million and state Medicaid programs will receive $2.5 million.
The allegation were brought forward by a former Forest employee, Kurt Kroening. Mr. Kroening sued Forest Laboratories and Forest Pharmaceuticals in 2012 under the federal False Claims Act.
Mr. Kroening is entitled to $7.8 million of the settlement for blowing the whistle.
