Celgene Faces Off-Label Promotion Lawsuit Over Successful Cancer Drugs Thalomid and Revlimid

Since 2006, Celgene Corporation has earned $20.9 billion from the sales of two of its drugs—Thalomid and Revlimid. The drugs are used for patients suffering from multiple myeloma. This year, Celgene has posting amazing sales of Revlimid in particular—doctors are prescribing the drug as an effective cancer treatment with limited side effects. However, 2014 has also given rise to both an off-label suit stemming from before FDA recognized the drugs and antitrust allegations. In February 2014, Celgene was accused of promoting its cancer drug Thalomid and related compound Revlimid for unapproved purposes. The accusations come from an unsealed whistleblower lawsuit filed by a former sales rep back in 2007. Celgene has denied any wrongdoing and asked a federal judge in Los Angeles to dismiss the case before the trial because it failed to state a plausible claim. In a July 10 ruling, U.S. District Judge George King denied the company's motion, stating that the allegations, if supported by evidence at trial, did in fact properly assert violations of the Federal False Claims Act. The whistleblower complaint alleged that "[b]y marketing drugs to cancer patients and their doctors for unapproved purposes and paying kickbacks to physicians, Celgene compromised physicians' professional judgment so that they would make decisions not based solely on scientific evidence." The complaint further stated that "Celgene racked up hundreds of millions of dollars a year in sales for purposes not...
Source: Policy and Medicine - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs