Novartis agrees to $642mn US settlement over kickbacksNovartis' headquarters in Basel, SwitzerlandWASHINGTON - Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis has agreed to pay more than $642 million to settle a lawsuit which accused it of paying kickbacks to doctors, among other allegations, the US Department of Justice said Wednesday. Novartis is accused of having hosted tens of thousands of speaker programs and events which the Department of Justice said were used to bribe physicians. Representatives often dropped doctors from the speaker program if they failed to increase prescriptions, the Department of Justice said. The Department of Justice said the activity was the result of decisions made by top management at Novartis’ North American headquarters in New Jersey. Under the settlement, Novartis will participate in a five-year corporate integrity agreement with the Department of Health and Human Services to address company conduct.

Source: Bangkok Post July 02, 2020 03:00 UTC