Government
AIDS drugmaker to settle fraud claims for $700 million
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Nov. 7, 2005
Swiss biotechnology company Serono S.A. has agreed to pay $704 million to settle claims by the U.S. attorney general that the company and its U.S. subsidiaries conducted illegal schemes to promote and sell the AIDS drug Serostim.
The total settlement includes nearly $137 million in criminal fines and about $567 million to settle civil claims. It was the third-largest fraud recovery in U.S. history, according to the attorney general's office.
The government accused the company of several offenses, including offering kickbacks to physicians for writing prescriptions for Serostim. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the drug, used to treat AIDS wasting, in 1996.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2005/11/07/gvbf1107.htm.