Whistleblowers: Drug company offered 'bribes' doctors to boost sales

[yortsed snacilbuper]

Two whistleblowers at a pharmaceutical company responsible for one of the largest drug price increases in US history said the company bribed doctors and their staffs to increase sales, according to newly unsealed documents in federal court.

The effort, the whistleblowers said in a lawsuit against the company, was part of an intentional "multi-tiered strategy" by Questcor Pharmaceuticals, now Mallinckrodt, to boost sales of H.P. Acthar Gel, cheating the government out of millions of dollars.

The price of the drug, best known for treating a rare infant seizure disorder, has increased almost 97,000%, from $40 a vial in 2000 to nearly $39,000 today.

The Justice Department has now intervened in the case after conducting its own extensive investigation -- a sign that the government believes the allegations levied by the whistleblowers are credible. In a statement to CNN, Mallinckrodt did not deny the accusations but said the fault lies primarily with Questcor.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/whistleblowers-drug-company-offered-bribes-doctors-to-boost-sales/ar-AAAJ6tO?ocid=spartanntp

[customerserviceguy]

1. Even without naked cash bribes

Big Pharma has been using trinkets and junkets to suck physicians into overprescribing their "new, improved" crap that is no better than the stuff that just went off of patent. Most doctors have no idea what these medications cost, and are oblivious to the fact that the new stuff is so very much more expensive than older treatments.