BOSTON (AP) — Pharmaceutical distributor
Those upfront payments, “either were not attributable to identifiable sales of pharmaceutical products or were purported rebates that the customers had not actually earned,” the settlement said.
A voicemail seeking comment was left with a spokesperson for
The payments were a violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute, which prohibits pharmaceutical distributors from offering or paying compensation to induce physicians to purchase drugs for use by Medicare patients, authorities said.
“Cardinal Health thought it hit upon a surefire moneymaker by paying kickbacks to doctors, which cost health benefit programs millions of dollars in potentially fraudulent claims,”
The payments were made to more than three dozen physician practices across the nation from
The settlement resolves allegations originally brought in lawsuits filed by whistleblowers under a legal provision that allows private parties to sue on behalf of the government and to share in any recovery. Those whistleblowers will receive approximately
“Cardinal Health recruited new customers by offering and paying cash bonuses in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute and False Claims Act. Kickback schemes, such as this one, have the potential to pervert clinical decision making and are detrimental to our federal health care system and taxpayers,”
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