Teva Pharmaceuticals agreed Jan. 6 to pay $54 million to settle a lawsuit claiming the drugmaker illegally paid physicians to boost prescriptions for two of its drugs, according to the Philadelphia Business Journal.
The lawsuit, filed in 2013, claimed Teva persuaded physicians to write prescriptions for the drugs Copaxone, a multiple sclerosis treatment, and Azilect, a Parkinson's drug, by paying them as speakers or consultants. Many of the speaker programs were allegedly sham events.
The lawsuit claimed Teva's actions violated the False Claims Act and the Anti-Kickback Statute, which prohibit drugmakers from compensating physicians in any way to persuade them to prescribe their drugs.
A spokesperson for Teva told the Philadelphia Business Journal the drugmaker had no comment on the settlement.
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