Biogen finalizes $900 million drug kickback settlement, U.S. says

By Nate Raymond

BOSTON (Reuters) -Biogen Inc has finalized a $900 million settlement resolving a whistleblower lawsuit accusing the biotech company of paying doctors kickbacks to prescribe multiple sclerosis drugs, the U.S. Department of Justice said on Monday.

The settlement resolves a long-running whistleblower lawsuit in Boston federal court that a former employee pursued on the government’s behalf. Biogen (NASDAQ:) in July disclosed it reached a potential settlement, which was subject to government approval.

Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Biogen did not admit wrongdoing as part of the accord. It has said it settled to “avoid the distraction of litigation and to allow the company to focus on our strategic priorities and the patients we serve.”

The lawsuit accused Biogen of directing millions of dollars in kickbacks to doctors to prescribe its MS drugs Avonex, Tysabri and Tecfidera from 2009 to 2014. The kickbacks came in the form of “sham” consulting deals and speaker programs as well as lavish dinners and entertainment, the lawsuit said.

The case was filed in 2012 by Michael Bawduniak, the ex-employee, under the False Claims Act, which allows whistleblowers to sue companies on the government’s behalf to recover taxpayer money spent on fraudulent claims.

The lawsuit claimed the scheme resulted in false claims for payment being submitted to Medicare and Medicaid.

The Justice Department may intervene in such cases and litigate them itself following an investigation, though in 2015 it opted against doing so in Bawduniak’s case, leaving him to pursue the case himself.

His lawyer, Thomas Greene, has called the settlement the largest recovery in over 150 years of False Claims Act cases to be secured by a whistleblower without the intervention or participation of the government.

As a reward, Bawduniak will receive $250 million of the federal government’s $843.8 million share of the settlement. Another $56.2 million will be paid to 15 states, the Justice Department said.

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