NY Lawsuit Accuses Novartis of Health Care Fraud

AP  By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press  NEW YORK April 24, 2013 (AP)  –  The U.S. government sued Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. Tuesday, claiming it gave kickbacks to pharmacies to switch kidney transplant patients from competitors’ drugs to its own.  The civil health care fraud lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Manhattan seeks unspecified damages and civil penalties for a scheme that the government said has been carried out since 2005.  U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said the company used the “lure of kickbacks disguised as rebates” to turn 20 or more pharmacies into a sales force for its drug, Myfortic. He said the company’s actions caused the public to pay tens of millions of dollars for kickback-tainted drugs dispensed by pharmacists who had buddied up to Novartis.  Bharara said Novartis is a repeat offender, having settled fraud charges based on kickbacks less than three years ago.  Read more