U.S. files suit against Novartis in alleged kickback scheme

The suit accuses the drugmaker of giving pharmacies discounts and rebates to promote the use of the drug Myfortic.

The New York Times: U.S. Accuses Novartis Of Providing Kickbacks
Federal prosecutors in New York filed a lawsuit on Tuesday accusing Novartis of providing illegal kickbacks to pharmacies, in the form of discounts and rebates, to promote use of one of the company's drugs (Pollack, 4/23).

The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Alleges Novartis Kickbacks To Pharmacies
In a civil-fraud lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan, prosecutors said Novartis Pharmaceuticals, the U.S. unit of Swiss drug giant Novartis AG, used a program of rebates and discounts to boost sales of its anti-rejection drug, Myfortic, at the expense of Medicare and Medicaid, which they said paid tens of millions of dollars in reimbursements to pharmacies for which they were never entitled (Bray and Loftus, 4/23).

The Associated Press/Washington Post: US Sues Pharmaceutical Firm Novartis In NY, Accusing It Of Prescription Drugs Kickback Scheme
The U.S. government sued Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. Tuesday, claiming it gave kickbacks to pharmacies to switch kidney transplant patients from competitors' drugs to its own. The civil health care fraud lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Manhattan seeks unspecified damages and civil penalties for a scheme that the government said has been carried out since 2005 (4/23).