Over the years, a host of large drugmakers have inked settlements with the federal authorities to resolve allegations that they paid kickbacks to boost sales. Now, Gilead Sciences has agreed to fork over $202 million to resolve allegations that it operated HIV speaker programs as a way to offer inducements for doctors to write prescriptions.
In an announcement Tuesday, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York revealed that Gilead will pay nearly $177 million to the U.S. government—and about $25 million to "various states"—to resolve kickbacks claims relating to its promotion of HIV medicines.
Gilead specifically paid honoraria payments, meals and travel expenses to induce participants at HIV educational speaker programs to prescribe its HIV drugs, according to the government.
As part of the settlement, Gilead admitted to certain conduct, such as paying one speaker more than $300,000 in total. That doctor ended up writing scripts for Gilead HIV drugs that resulted in more than $6 million in federal reimbursement payments, according to the Tuesday announcement.
"As alleged, Gilead spent tens of millions of dollars on these programs, including over $20 million in speaking fees and millions more in exorbitant meals, alcohol and travel, all in an effort to induce doctors to prescribe Gilead’s HIV drugs and drive up sales," U.S. attorney Jay Clayton said in a statement.
Gilead often hosted speaker programs at high-end restaurants and in locations such as Hawaii, Miami and New Orleans, according to the government. Doctors were invited to attend programs repeatedly, with many attending programs that covered "the exact same topic" as prior events only a short time later, the government said.
The inducements violated the Anti-Kickback Statute and therefore caused healthcare claims to be executed in violation of the False Claims Act, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
For its part, Gilead said in a statement that it "entered into this agreement to avoid the cost and distraction of potential litigation regarding this legacy compliance matter."
"Gilead’s HIV speaker programs have served to educate healthcare professionals about the appropriate use and benefits of these important medicines," the company said. "These efforts are important for healthcare providers and patients to have the necessary information to make the best decisions for their care."
In 2017, Gilead received a subpoena from the the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York requesting documents relating to the HIV speaker program, the company said in an annual filing earlier this year. At the time, Gilead said it had set aside $200 million for a potential settlement on the matter.
The Department of Justice's allegations relate to Gilead's HIV speaker programs from January 2011 to November 2017, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
Gilead isn't the only one—the last few years have included similar settlements from the likes of both Pfizer and Biogen.