Gilead Sciences agreed to pay $45 million to settle allegations of paying kickbacks that improperly influenced prescriptions paid for by the Texas Medicaid program, the latest pharmaceutical company to reach a deal with the state over marketing practices.
The state pursued its claims alongside a whistleblower who also filed a lawsuit claiming Gilead paid another company to hire registered nurses to recommend its drugs. The lawsuit also accused Gilead of offering free support services to doctors to prescribe its drugs, which resulted in false claims being filed with government programs.
Nearly a decade ago, Health Choice Advocates and some related firms filed whistleblower lawsuits against several drugmakers, accusing them of hiring third-party contractors to deploy nurses — sometimes by phone, sometimes at patient homes — to ensure that prescriptions were refilled.