Sanofi’s Free Speech Defense Falls Flat on Off-Label Drug Marketing Allegations

A jury will have to sort out whether drugmaker Sanofi’s off-label marketing claims for its cancer drug Taxotere were protected by the First Amendment (United States ex rel. Gohil v. Aventis, Inc., 2017 BL 6475, E.D. Pa., No. 02-cv-2964, 1/9/17).

A former sales representative of Sanofi subsidiary Aventis filed a False Claims Act lawsuit against the company in 2002 alleging Aventis pushed off-label uses for Taxotere that weren’t medically accepted and therefore ineligible for reimbursement by Medicare, Medicaid and other federal health-care programs.

The whistle-blower, Yoash Gohil, said Aventis sales reps were told to use false and ...