TRENTON
- Attorney General Anne Milgram announced
today that New Jersey has joined with other
states and the federal government and reached
agreement with Pfizer Inc to settle civil
and criminal allegations that Pfizer and its
subsidiaries paid kickbacks and engaged in
off-labeling marketing campaigns that improperly
promoted numerous drugs that Pfizer manufactures.
This
is the largest settlement in history in a
health care fraud matter. Pfizer will pay
$2.3 billion to settle nine False Claims Act
cases filed against it. Pfizer will pay the
states and the federal government to compensate
Medicaid, Medicare, and various federal healthcare
programs .The total Medicaid portion of the
settlement is $705.3 million. New Jersey’s
share in the Medicaid settlement is $12,463,
555.
The settlement comes simultaneously with a
separate multi-state agreement that resolved
allegations Pfizer improperly marketed its
anti-psychotic drug Geodon. In addition to
requiring that Pfizer make certain changes
in its approach to marketing Geodon, that
settlement requires Pfizer to pay New Jersey
$943,230.
The
government entities alleged that Pfizer, the
largest pharmaceutical manufacturer in the
world, engaged in a pattern of unlawful marketing
activity to promote multiple drugs for certain
uses which the Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) had not approved. While it is not illegal
for a physician to prescribe a drug for an
unapproved use, federal law prohibits a manufacturer
from promoting a drug for uses not approved
by the FDA.
This
promotional activity included:
- Marketing
Bextra for conditions and dosages other
than those for which it was approved;
- Promoting
the use of the antipsychotic drug Geodon
for a variety of off-label conditions such
as attention deficit disorder, autism, dementia
and depression for patients that included
children and adolescents;
- Selling
the pain medication Lyrica for unapproved
conditions;
- Making
false representations about the safety and
efficacy of Zyvox, an antibiotic only approved
to treat certain drug resistant infections.
In addition to the improper off-label marketing
of these drugs Pfizer is alleged to have paid
illegal remuneration to health care professionals
to induce them to promote and prescribe Bextra,
Geodon, Lyrica, Zyvox, Aricept, Celebrex,
Lipitor, Norvasc, Relpax, Viagra, Zithromax,
Zoloft and Zyrtec. These payments allegedly
took many forms, including entertainment,
cash, travel and meals. Federal law prohibits
payment of anything of value in exchange for
the prescribing of a product paid for by a
federal health care program.
As a condition of the settlement, Pfizer will
enter into a Corporate Integrity Agreement
with the United States Department of Health
and Human Services, Office of the Inspector
General, which will closely monitor the company’s
future marketing and sales practices.
A National Association of Medicaid Fraud Control
Units team participated in the investigation
and conducted the settlement negotiations
with Pfizer on behalf of the settling states.
Team members included representatives from
the Offices of the Attorneys General for the
states of Massachusetts, Oregon, Ohio, New
York, Virginia, Texas and Arkansas. The New
Jersey Medicaid Fraud Control Unit is funded
75% by the federal government and 25% by the
state government. The Medicaid Fraud Control
Unit routinely participates in civil settlements
involving allegations of false claims brought
on a national level.
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