Actelion Pharma Will Pay $360M to End Charity Kickback Allegations

Actelion Pharmaceuticals agreed to pay $360 million to settle allegations it paid kickbacks to Medicare patients through a charity it operated.

Actelion Pharmaceuticals Ltd. set up an independent charity and withdrew payments from it in 2014 and 2015 to cover the co-pays of patients on Medicare, the settlement, filed Dec. 6 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, alleges.

Actelion’s actions were equivalent to bribing patients to choose an Actelion drug over other, less-costly drugs on the market, U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling said Dec. 6 in a statement announcing the settlement. Actelion violated the False Claims ...