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Gilead agrees to pay $97 million to settle Medicare kickbacks case

pharmafile | September 24, 2020 | News story | Business Services Gilead, Medicare, drugs, kickbacks 

Gilead has agreed to pay $97 million to resolve claims from the US Government that it used an independent charity to pay illegal kickbacks to cover Medicare patients’ upfront costs for its drug Letairis. 

The case alleged that Gilead improperly used the Caring Voice Coalition as a conduit to cover thousands of patients’ copayment obligations. This allowed Gilead to boost their revenue from June 2007 to December 2010, which violated the federal False Claims Act. This legislation specifically outlaws pharmaceutical companies from offering anything of value to incentivise Medicare patients to buy their drugs. 

US Attorney Andrew Lelling said: “Gilead used data from CVC that it knew it should not have, and effectively set up a proprietary fund within CVC to cover the co-pays of just its own drug.” Lelling’s office has led the probe into the drugmakers support for patient assistant charities. 

Gilead responded to the case by saying it did not violate the law, and there were no allegations coming from patients who received medication and did not need it. 

Eleven other drug companies have settled similar cases with the government including Pfizer and Novartis, and four foundations and a pharmacy have also settled. 

Conor Kavanagh

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