The national nursing home pharmacy PharMerica Corp. agreed to pay $9.25 million to resolve claims that it took kickbacks from Abbott Laboratories to promote the anti-seizure medication Depokate, according to the Department of Justice.
The settlement resolves claims that PharMerica took rebates, educational grants and other financial support from Abbott Laboratories in exchange for recommending that physicians prescribe the anti-seizure medication to nursing home residents. In March, FierceHealthPayer: Antifraud reported that PharMerica had agreed to settle these allegations. Abbott previously paid $1.5 billion to settle claims that it paid kickbacks to promote Depokate, and another long-term care pharmacy, Omnicare, is in the midst of a lawsuit for recommending Depokate.
This marks the third false claims settlement for PharMerica in 2015. In May, the company paid $31.5 million to settle allegations that it pushed potentially addictive Schedule II drugs on elderly patients. In August, PharMerica agreed to settle claims it took kickbacks for the anemia drug Aranesp. The terms of that settlement have not yet been finalized.
For more:
- read the DOJ announcement