{"id":1083,"date":"2015-01-12T22:41:49","date_gmt":"2015-01-12T22:41:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cochranfirm.com\/washington-dc\/benicar-maker-settles-whistleblower-lawsuit-for-39-million\/"},"modified":"2026-01-28T11:55:33","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T17:55:33","slug":"benicar-maker-settles-whistleblower-lawsuit-for-39-million","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cochranfirm.com\/washington-dc\/benicar-maker-settles-whistleblower-lawsuit-for-39-million\/","title":{"rendered":"Benicar maker settles whistleblower lawsuit for $39 million"},"content":{"rendered":"

Daiichi Sankyo Inc. pays $39 million for allegedly violating anti-kickback law<\/b><\/em><\/h3>\n

Japanese drug maker Daiichi Sankyo, Inc. has been ordered to pay $39 million to settle allegations it\u00a0violated\u00a0the Anti-Kickback Statute\u00a0by paying physicians\u00a0illicit fees to speak at lavish entertainment events that promoted blood pressure medications such as\u00a0Benicar. Benicar is also sold as Azor, Tribenzor, Benicar HCT, and Welchol.<\/p>\n

The qui tam<\/i><\/a> case was filed in March 2010 under the False Claims Act by whistleblower Kathy Fragoules, a former sales representative. \u00a0The False Claims Act allows citizens with evidence of fraud to come forward and file suit on behalf of the government to recover monetary damages. \u00a0Whistleblowers can receive between 15 and 30 percent of money recovered.<\/p>\n

Millions awarded to False Claims Act whistleblower<\/b><\/h3>\n

Ms. Fragoules will receive more than $6.1 million of the $36 million settlement for her contribution\u00a0in reporting Daiichi Sankyo\u2019s violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute. \u00a0States involved in the case will receive $5 million of the $39 million settlement.<\/p>\n

The suit, U.S. ex rel Fragoules v. Daiichi Sankyo Inc.<\/i> No. 10-10420, was filed in the\u00a0U.S.\u00a0District Court for the District of Massachusetts. \u00a0The Federal Bureau of Investigations, the Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Defense Criminal Investigative Service, and the Department of Health and Human Service were conducting active investigations into Daiichi's alleged kickbacks prior to the settlement agreement.<\/p>\n

Anti-Kickback Statute violations<\/b><\/h3>\n

The Anti-Kickback Statute was enacted to ensure a doctor\u2019s medical judgement would not be compromised by improper gifts or payments. \u00a0The Anti-Kickback Statute forbids companies from offering gifts or money to doctors in order to induce referrals for medical services covered by federal programs. \u00a0These medical services include those offered by Medicare and Medicaid<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In her whistleblower lawsuit, Fragoules alleged Daiichi Sankyo created a system of payments and rewards for physicians who participated in its so-called \u201cPhysician Opinion Discussions\u201d (POD). \u00a0Cooperating doctors were paid $500 per session to be the honoraria at company-funded events and speak to approximately three to four other physicians. The speaking physician recommended prescribing pharmaceuticals manufactured by Daiichi Sankyo.<\/p>\n

The doctors chosen to become the honoraria were selected for their\u00a0consistency in\u00a0prescribing\u00a0certain brands of medication. \u00a0The POD members would take turns as honorarium and give redundant speeches on the same topic.<\/p>\n

The speeches occurred between 2004 and 2011, taking place at lavish, expensive dinners where only a few other doctors, their spouses, and staff were present. \u00a0Federal prosecutors indicated that\u00a0the expenses incurred by Daiichi Sankyo exceeded its own in-house cost limitation guidelines. \u00a0In some cases, the physicians were paid even when the events were cancelled.<\/p>\n

False Claims Act whistleblower settlement<\/b><\/h3>\n

As part of its settlement with federal authorities, Daiichi Sankyo entered into a Corporate Integrity Agreement with with the Department of Health and Human Services. \u00a0The agreement obligates Daiichi Sankyo to enact internal reforms over the course of five years.<\/p>\n

If you have knowledge of a corporation or healthcare provider defrauding the federal government, you may be entitled to substantial compensation under the False Claims Act. \u00a0For more information, please visit our whistleblower and qui tam claims page<\/a> or call us at 202-682-5800.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Daiichi Sankyo Inc. pays $39 million for allegedly violating anti-kickback law Japanese drug maker Daiichi Sankyo, Inc. has been ordered to pay $39 million to settle allegations it\u00a0violated\u00a0the Anti-Kickback Statute\u00a0by paying physicians\u00a0illicit fees to speak at lavish entertainment events that promoted blood pressure medications such as\u00a0Benicar. Benicar is also sold as Azor, Tribenzor, Benicar HCT, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"Benicar maker settles whistleblower lawsuit for $39M","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1083","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cochranfirm.com\/washington-dc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1083","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cochranfirm.com\/washington-dc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cochranfirm.com\/washington-dc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cochranfirm.com\/washington-dc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cochranfirm.com\/washington-dc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1083"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.cochranfirm.com\/washington-dc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1083\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32734,"href":"https:\/\/www.cochranfirm.com\/washington-dc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1083\/revisions\/32734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cochranfirm.com\/washington-dc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1083"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cochranfirm.com\/washington-dc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1083"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cochranfirm.com\/washington-dc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1083"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}