According to a Friday press release, the Department of Justice has settled with three generic drug manufacturers, Taro Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc., Sandoz Inc. and Apotex Corporation, for nearly half a billion dollars. The settlement, the press release said, is in recompense for violations of the False Claims Act in connection with a price-fixing scheme.
The press release further explained that the companies ” paid and received compensation prohibited by the Anti-Kickback Statute through arrangements on price, supply and allocation of customers with other pharmaceutical manufacturers for certain generic drugs manufactured by the companies.”
Taro, set to pay nearly half of the $447.2 million total, allegedly engaged in these actions in connection with treatments for arthritis and skin infections.
In concert with the settlement, the release explained, the companies will now be bound be a corporate integrity agreement, including monitoring and price transparency rules.
The fines come on top of criminal charges for the price-fixing scheme. Those fines total $424 million, and were paid as part of deferred prosecution agreements, under which the companies admitted to conspiring with other drug companies, including ones outside the three subject to prosecution.
