Pfizer to pay nearly $60M over kickbacks for migraine drug once promoted by Lady Gaga
The pharmaceutical giant Pfizer will pay nearly $60 million to resolve charges that a company it acquired paid kickbacks so that physicians would prescribe a specific migraine drug to patients, thereby defrauding Medicare and other federal health care programs.
The Justice Department announced Friday that Biohaven paid improper remuneration, including in the form of speaker honoraria and meals at high-end restaurants, to healthcare professionals to induce them to prescribe the migraine medication Nurtec ODT more often in violation of the anti-kickback statute.
The scheme took place from March 1, 2020, through Sept. 30, 2022. Pfizer bought Biohaven in October 2022.
PFIZER'S PAXLOVID FAILS AS 15-DAY TREATMENT FOR LONG COVID, STUDY FINDS
Prosecutors said that certain prescribers who attended multiple speaker programs on the same topic received no educational benefit from attending repeat programs and that certain Biohaven speaker programs were attended by individuals with no educational need to attend, such as the speakers’ spouses, family members, or friends, or colleagues from the speakers’ own medical practice.
Pfizer ended the Nurtec speaker programs after paying $11.5 billion to buy Biohaven.
"Patients deserve to know that their doctor is prescribing medications based on their doctor’s medical judgment, and not as a result of financial incentives from pharmaceutical companies," U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross for the Western District of New York said. "This settlement reflects our commitment to hold those who violate the laws accountable, regardless of their status or prestige."
PFIZER ADVANCES ONCE-DAILY WEIGHT-LOSS PILL IN ONGOING STUDY
Pfizer did not admit wrongdoing in agreeing to settle.
"We are pleased to put this legacy matter behind us, so that we can continue to focus on the needs of patients," the New York-based drugmaker said in a statement.
Nurtec ODT, also known as Rimegepant, was approved for treating acute migraine in February 2020 and its approval was extended to preventing episodic migraine in June 2021. The drug was promoted by singer Lady Gaga in 2023, who said in a social media post that she had suffered with migraines since childhood and said she wished she had found the drug sooner.
The civil settlement resolves an August 2021 lawsuit filed in the Rochester, New York federal court by Patricia Frattasio, a former Biohaven neuroscience sales specialist.
GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE
She will receive about $8.4 million from the settlement. About $41.8 million will go to the federal government and $9.5 million will go to state Medicaid programs.
The False Claims Act lets whistleblowers sue on behalf of the government and share in recoveries.
Meanwhile, anti‑kickback statute prohibits offering or paying anything of value to induce the referral of items or services covered by Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE and other federal health care programs. The statute is intended to ensure that medical providers’ judgments are not compromised by improper financial incentives.
Reuters contributed to this report.