Pharmaceutical Kickbacks

Right now the pharmaceutical industry is in the middle of its biggest challenge in history. Whistleblowers have exposed and continue to expose fraudulent practices ranging from pricing issues to sales and marketing practices at a rate never anticipated by either the pharmaceutical industry or the Department of Justice. Settlements and jury verdicts have been headline grabbing and large, attracting the attention of pharma, regulators, Congress and taxpayers. The qui tam pharmaceutical fraud cases settled since 2000 alone have amounted to over 3.5 billion dollars, representing various patterns of fraud. We expect to see some new patterns as time goes by, especially with the new Medicare prescription drug benefit. Pharmaceutical fraud is still abundant and this blog is intended to keep readers up to date with all pharmaceutical fraud related news and to provide commentary when warranted. This blog also contains an array of laws and regulations concerning the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act set out in an easy to read format.

FDA Launches Draft Guidelines On Financial Ties With Drug Companies

by Nolan and Auerbach on March 23, 2007

If an outside expert has more than $50,000 in ties to drug and medical device companies regulated by the Food and Drug Administration he will be barred from advising the FDA under the new draft guidelines. The money calculations include corporate grants, contracts, consulting fees and/or company stock.  Although it was not clear how many advisors would be disqualified, Randall Lutter, the Food and Drug Administration’s acring commissioner for policy, said it was a “significant number.”

To read more click here. To learn more about drug company inducements as a violation of the False Claims Act, click here.

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