The U. S. is asking Novartis AG to provide records of about 80,000 ‘sham’ events in which the government says doctors were wined and dined so they would prescribe the company’s cardiovascular drugs to their patients.
The Swiss drugmaker and the Manhattan U. S. Attorney are engaged in a whistle-blower lawsuit that alleges Novartis provided illegal kickbacks to health-care providers through bogus educational programs at high-end restaurants and sports bars where the drugs were barely discussed.
In a filing Friday, the U. S. said it needs Novartis to provide information to support its allegation that the company defrauded federal health-care programs of hundreds of millions of dollars over a decade by inducing doctors to prescribe its medications through sham speaker events.
This post was published at David Stockmans Contra Corner on March 28, 2016.
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