Day Pitney's Eric Fader was quoted in an October 17 article,
"Omnicare to Pay $28M to Settle Kickback Allegations,"
that appeared in Bloomberg BNA's Pharmaceutical
Law & Industry Report, Health Care Fraud
Report and other publications. The article discusses the $28
million settlement that Omnicare Inc., the
largest nursing home pharmacy in the country, reached with the U.S.
Department of Justice (DOJ) to resolve claims that it accepted
kickbacks from Abbott Laboratories, a pharmaceutical manufacturer,
to induce Omnicare to order one of Abbott's drugs.
Eric said he's not sure how the companies thought they could
get away with Abbott paying, and Omnicare accepting, volume-based
rebates, kickbacks disguised as educational program contributions,
paid Florida vacations and sporting event tickets, all of which
violate federal law and long-standing published regulatory
guidance. "This case is going to be taught in law school
health law courses for a very long time because it has a little of
everything, from a regulatory standpoint," Eric predicted.
Still, the two Abbott cases (this one against Omnicare and a
previously settled case against PharMerica) may be viewed as
outliers that may not have much demonstrable impact on the
industry, because all pharmaceutical companies should have already
known that these marketing practices simply aren't
permitted.
The DOJ's original press release announcing the False Claims
Act complaint against Omnicare may be found here.
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