Daiichi Sankyo, a global pharmaceutical company with its U.S. headquarters in Parsippany, N.J., has agreed to pay $39 million to the federal government and state Medicaid programs to settle allegations it paid kickbacks to physicians to prescribe its drugs, according to the Department of Justice.
The lawsuit alleged Daiichi paid physicians kickbacks to induce them to prescribe several of its drugs, including Azor, Benicar, Tribenzor and Welchol.
The government further alleged Daiichi paid physicians kickbacks in the form of "speaker fees." The physicians received payments from Daiichi for speaking on "duplicative topics over Daiichi-paid dinners" and for speaking to members of his or her own staff, according to the report.
Along with the monetary settlement, Daiichi also agreed to enter into a corporate integrity agreement with HHS' Office of the Inspector General.
The lawsuit was originally filed under the qui tam, or whistle-blower, provisions of the False Claims Act by a former Daiichi sales representative.
Although Daiichi has agreed to this settlement there has been no admission of wrong doing in this case.
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