A complaint has been filed against Novartis AG accusing the pharmaceutical giant of paying illegal kickbacks to healthcare professionals.
Novartis AG will now face trial against the U.S. government as it is under fire for paying millions of dollars illegally to doctors as kickbacks to induce them to prescribe its drugs. This is not the first time that Novartis has been under the microscope for these kinds of allegations. This whistleblower lawsuit, which stemmed from a previous employee of Novartis, states that Novartis specifically paid doctors kickbacks to prescribe the hypertension drugs Lotrel and Valturna and the diabetes drug Starlix. The kickbacks include speaker fees for “sham” educational events and lavish meals.
