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Abbott Labs settles with U.S. over kickback claims [December 28, 2013] (Reuters) — Abbott Laboratories <ABT.N> has agreed to pay the United States $5.48 million to resolve allegations that it paid improper kickbacks to induce doctors to use some of its products, the U.S. Department of Justice said on Friday. |
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The settlement resolves allegations that Abbott
paid well-known doctors for teaching assignments, speaking
engagements and conferences, expecting that they would arrange
for the hospitals with which they were affiliated to buy
Abbott's carotid, biliary and peripheral vascular products. This activity violated the federal Anti-Kickback Act and led to
the submission of false Medicare claims, the government said, in
a case brought under the federal False Claims Act. Carotid and peripheral vascular products are implanted to treat
circulatory disorders by increasing blood flow, while biliary
products are implanted to treat obstructions in the bile ducts,
the government said. "Patients have a right to treatment decisions that are based on
their own medical needs, not the personal financial interests of
their health care providers," Assistant Attorney General Stuart
Delery of the Justice Department's civil division said in a
statement. Abbott spokeswoman Angela Duff said the Abbott Park,
Illinois-based company is pleased to settle, and did so to avoid
the uncertainty and cost of lengthy litigation. "Abbott believes
its actions were appropriate at all times," she added. The Justice Department said the settlement resolves allegations
originally brought by former Abbott employees Douglas Gray and
Steven Peters. They will receive more than $1 million from the
settlement, the department added. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; editing by Richard Chang) [© 2013 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.] Copyright 2013 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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