A pharmaceutical company that allegedly paid doctors kickbacks to push their HIV/AIDS drugs has agreed to pay a fine of more than $200 million to settle a civil lawsuit filed by federal prosecutors.
The government alleged that Gilead had induced doctors to prescribe a slew of HIV/AIDS drugs in exchange for honoraria payments, meals, and travel expenses to healthcare practitioners. Prosecutors said the company created a scheme where healthcare practitioners who spoke at or attended Gilead speaker events, and used the events as a a way to deliver kickbacks.
"For years, Gilead unlawfully sought to increase sales of its HIV drugs, by using its speaker programs to funnel kickbacks to doctors. As alleged, Gilead spent tens of millions of dollars on these programs, including over $20 million in speaking fees and millions more in exorbitant meals, alcohol and travel, all in an effort to induce doctors to prescribe Gilead's HIV drugs and drive up sales," U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said.
"With this settlement, Gilead has taken responsibility for its conduct and agreed to pay a significant financial penalty. The message is clear, companies that illegally drain taxpayer dollars from federal healthcare programs will be held accountable," he said.
The government also alleged that the scheme led to false claims for the Gilead HIV Drugs being submitted to and paid for by federal healthcare programs. Because of this, more than $176 million of the fine will go as compensation to the government, with the remainder being distributed to several states.
One HIV speaker, who received over $300,000 in total honorarium payments, wrote prescriptions for Gilead HIV Drugs that resulted in over $6 million in Medicare, Medicaid, and TRICARE payments.
The Gilead HIV antiretroviral drugs are expensive, with Medicare paying more than $1,000 for a one-month supply of Complera®, for example. From 2011 to November 2017, the company conducted HIV speaker programs, ostensibly for educational purposes.
However, prosecutors say many of the events had little educational value and that Gilead would invite the same physicians over and over to the same program. The events were often held at fancy restaurants in New York including at James Beard House, Del Posto, Asiate, Palma, Vaucluse, Ilili, and Limani.
Other desirable locations for the events included Hawaii, Miami, and New Orleans. Prosecutors noted that sometimes the location was selected in response to an HIV speaker's request to be booked for a program in that city.
