Jonathan Stempel
New York (Reuters) – Pfizer (NYSE:) will pay $59.7 million to settle charges that the company it acquired defrauded Medicare and other health care programs by paying kickbacks to get doctors to prescribe Nurtec ODT migraines, the U.S. Department of Justice said Friday.
The Justice Department said that from March 1, 2020 to September 30, 2022, Biohaven Pharmaceuticals violated the Federal False Claims Act by providing speaking fees and restaurant meals to top doctors to encourage them to prescribe NURTEC more often.
According to the government, some speakers were attended more than once by the same doctors, resulting in an educational benefit, or were attended by the doctors’ spouses, family members and colleagues who had no educational need to be there.
Pfizer ended the Nurtec Speaker programs after paying $11.5 billion to buy Biohaven in October 2022.
“Patients deserve to know that their doctor is prescribing drugs based on their doctor’s medical judgment and not as a result of financial incentives from drug companies,” said Trini Ross, US Attorney for the Western District of New York.
Pfizer did not admit wrongdoing by agreeing to settle.
“We are pleased to put this legacy behind us so we can continue to focus on patient needs,” the New York-based company said in a statement.
The settlement resolves a lawsuit filed in August 2021 in New York Federal Court by Patricia Frattasio, a former Biohaven neuroscience sales expert.
He will receive about 8.4 million dollars from the settlement. About $41.8 million will go to the federal government, and $9.5 million will go to state Medicaid programs.
The False Claims Act allows whistleblowers to sue on behalf of the government and share in the recoveries.
