Novartis gave doctors thousands to prescribe pills, feds allege

By KATHLEEN KERR  [e-mail]. Howard Brand says he had one goal when he gave a speech at a Miami hotel in the early 2000s -- to tout the diabetes pill Starlix for the pharmaceutical company Novartis.The giant Swiss drugmaker, which reported $57.9 billion in global sales in 2013, paid the Stony Brook endocrinologist $1,500 for his talk at a doctors' meeting, Brand said in an interview. Novartis also paid for Brand's airfare and his weekend hotel stay, he said."It was self-serving, but I also thought it was a benefit to patients," said Brand, who explained that his expenses-paid weekend in Florida helped other doctors learn how to use Starlix to treat patients.Between 2001 and 2011, federal prosecutors say, Novartis Pharmaceuticals showered 26,997 doctors -- including dozens from Long Island -- with money, free dinners and entertainment.The payments to doctors across the country played a key role in what prosecutors allege was Novartis' $65 million illegal kickback scheme that steered unknowing patients to Starlix and two of its hypertension pills, Lotrel and Valturna.Under the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, it is illegal for a drug company to pay doctors to induce them to write prescriptions for the company's drugs that are reimbursed by federal health care programs, prosecutors say."Novartis corrupted the prescription drug dispensing process with multimillion-dollar 'incentive' programs that targeted doctors who, in exchange for illegal kickbac...

Source: PharmaGossip - March 16, 2014 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs