Genzyme Corp., a biotechnology corporation, agreed to pay $22.28 million to 48 states and the federal government to settle allegations that it marketed its surgical adhesion barrier Seprafilm for unapproved uses, causing hospitals using them to submit false claims. Seprafilm is a thin film that prevents healing tissues from adhering to one another after surgery, and is FDA-approved for use in open abdominal surgery, but not laparoscopic surgery. Genzyme sales reps allegedly taught doctors and other staff to dissolve small pieces of Seprafilm in saline to make a “slurry” version that could be inserted in laparoscopic surgeries using a catheter. According to the government, sales reps “traded recipes for slurry, and trained each other in how to create it.”

The allegations were first raised in whistleblower lawsuits filed in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida. The whistleblowers’ share of the settlement has not been determined.

Read the DOJ press release, “Genzyme Corp. to Pay $22.28 Million to Resolve False Claims Allegations Related to ‘Slurry’ Used in Patients”