Drug maker Johnson & Johnson paid kickbacks to mega-pharmacy, U.S. charges in civil complaint
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Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiaries paid millions of dollars in kickbacks to the nation’s largest pharmacy that specializes in dispensing drugs to nursing home patients, the federal government alleged in a civil complaint filed today.
The suit, filed in Boston, alleges Johnson & Johnson of New Brunswick, N.J., and two of its subsidiaries paid money to Omnicare “to induce the nursing home pharmacy company to purchase and recommend J&J drugs, including the anti-psychotic drug Risperdal.”
The payments, between 1999 and 2004, took various forms, including funds for data that were never provided, escalating rebates for taking Johnson & Johnson products and money for education programs for customers, the Department of Justice said.
Omnicare charged Medicaid for a substantial portion, according to the government.
“We will pursue those who break the law to take advantage of the elderly and the poor,” Tony West, assistant attorney general for the civil division of the Department of Justice, said in a prepared statement announcing the action. “Kickbacks such as those alleged here distort the judgments of healthcare professionals and put profits ahead of sound medical treatment.”
According to the complaint, Omnicare’s pharmacists reviewed nursing home patients’ charts at least monthly and made recommendations to physicians on what drugs should be prescribed for those patients. Doctors accepted Omnicare recommendations more than 80% of the time, the Justice Department said.
In November 2009, the United States, numerous states and Omnicare entered into a $98-million settlement that, among other things, resolved Omnicare’s civil liability for taking kickbacks from Johnson & Johnson, the government said.
-- Michael Muskal
