Specifically, a Biogen building in Cambridge, MA.
Reuters | Brian Snyder
The Justice Department announced on Monday that Biogen would pay $900 million to resolve a complaint alleging that the corporation had paid kickbacks to doctors to increase the prescribing of its products.
Michael Bawduniak, a former employee of Biogen who turned whistleblower, filed a False Claims Act lawsuit against the corporation on behalf of the United States government in 2012.
From 2009 through 2014, Bawduniak claimed, Biogen paid doctors speaking fees, consultancy fees, and dinners in order to get them to prescribe the company’s multiple sclerosis medications.
The Justice Department claims that fraudulent claims for the sale of Avonex, Tysabri, and Tecfidera were submitted to Medicare and Medicaid as a result of the alleged bribes.
More than $843 million will go to the federal government, and another $56 million will be split among 15 states as part of the settlement with Biogen. According to the Department of Justice, Bawduniak will get around $250 million of the government revenues.
The United States’ use of the False Claims Act to combat fraud impacting federal health care programmes is bolstered, according to Justice Department Civil Division Chief Brian Boynton, and the settlement announced today demonstrates this fact.
In a statement released on Monday, Biogen strongly refuted allegations of malfeasance. In an effort to move on to other matters, the company has stated that it would like to end the dispute.
Biogen has stated that it disputes all of the charges made against it and that it is of the opinion that its actions were always legal and proper.
The United States and the states did not intervene in the case, and Biogen is not admitting fault in the settlement.
Biogen reported an in-principle settlement of the lawsuit for $900 million in its second-quarter report.
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