Johnson & Johnson has agreed to pay $158 million to Texas to settle allegations of Medicaid fraud, according to a news release from the office of Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott.
An investigation found J&J's subsidiary, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, engaged in illegal marketing practices and provided false information on its anti-psychotic drug Risperdal. The company allegedly promoted the drug as superior, downplayed its harmful side effects and urged physicians to prescribe it despite the lack of FDA approval at the time.
For many years, Texas' Medicaid program reimbursed pharmacies that dispensed Risperdal for Medicaid patients for a range of unapproved uses, according to the release.
The case stemmed from a whistleblower suit filed in 2004.
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An investigation found J&J's subsidiary, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, engaged in illegal marketing practices and provided false information on its anti-psychotic drug Risperdal. The company allegedly promoted the drug as superior, downplayed its harmful side effects and urged physicians to prescribe it despite the lack of FDA approval at the time.
For many years, Texas' Medicaid program reimbursed pharmacies that dispensed Risperdal for Medicaid patients for a range of unapproved uses, according to the release.
The case stemmed from a whistleblower suit filed in 2004.
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Government Triples Money Recovered From Medicaid Fraud Prosecutions