Thursday, Novartis and DoJ announced that the pharmaceutical giant will plead guilty to criminal charges and will pay $422.5 million to settle allegations that it illegally  marketed anti-epileptic drug “Trileptal” for unapproved uses.  Former employees of Novartis blew the whistle on the company’s fraudulent practices and will share in a reward of $25 million for alerting state and federal officials under the qui tam provisions of the respective false claims acts.  Additionally, “the agreement resolves allegations that the company paid kickbacks to health care professionals to induce them to prescribe Trileptal and five other drugs: Diovan, Zelnorm, Sandostatin, Exforge and Tekturna,” says DoJ.

To report healthcare fraud, contact Frohsin & Barger.