by Ben Vernia | January 7th, 2014
On December 27, the Department of Justice announced that Abbott Laboratories had agreed to pay nearly $5.5 million to resolve civil allegations, originally raised by a whistleblower, that the company had paid kickbacks to physicians for using its medical devices. According to DOJ’s press release:
Abbott Laboratories has agreed to pay the United States $5.475 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by paying kickbacks to induce doctors to implant the company’s carotid, biliary and peripheral vascular products, the Justice Department announced today. Abbott is a global pharmaceuticals and health care products company based in Abbott Park, Ill.
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The settlement resolves allegations that Abbott knowingly paid prominent physicians for teaching assignments, speaking engagements and conferences with the expectation that these physicians would arrange for the hospitals with which they were affiliated to purchase Abbott’s carotid, biliary and peripheral vascular products. As a result, the United States alleged Abbott violated the Anti-Kickback Act and caused the submission of false claims to Medicare for the procedures in which these Abbott products were used.
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Carotid and peripheral vascular products are used to treat circulatory disorders by increasing blood flow to the head and various parts of the body, respectively. Biliary products are used to treat obstructions that occur in the bile ducts.
The Department announced that the whistleblowers who brought the suit – two former Abbott employees – will receive “more than $1 million” (a relator’s share of over 18.2%).
