Kickback accusations have yet again been raised against Novartis, a company that promised four years ago to live by a new integrity code, and is already enmeshed with allegations by the Justice Department over possible kickback schemes with pharmacies. The company now faces a new whistleblower lawsuit filed by Min Amy Guo, a former executive claiming that Novartis retaliated against her for suggesting the company’s study of cancer drug Afinitor appeared to be a kickback.

Guo claims she was fired in 2013 after raising objections to awarding contracts to McKesson, a wholesaler and health services company, for a study of Afinitor by saying it “presented a conflict of interest and an appearance of kickbacks under the disguise of research.” Novartis denies Guo’s charges.

This is not the first time Novartis has been accused of kickbacks. In 2010, the company paid $422 million in fines and civil penalties to settle kickback accusations involving its blood pressure drugs, Diovan, Exforge, and Tekturna. It currently faces similar kickback accusations by the U.S. Attorney in New York for allegedly providing discounts and rebates to nearly 20 pharmacies between 2005 and 2013 to promote its transplant drug, Myfortic. It is also accused of providing patient referrals and rebates to BioScrip from 2007 to 2012 in order to pressure patients to order refills of Exjade. BioScrip paid $15 million to settle the charges, while Novartis denied the allegations. These allegations stem from a whistleblower lawsuit filed by former sales representative, Daivd Kester, who is pursuing separate claims against Novartis.

Read the entire article, “Novartis accused again of kickback tactics in a new whistleblower suit”
Read our post on Manhattan US Attorney’s suit against Novartis and settlement with BioScrip, “U.S. Files Additional Claims against Novartis; BioScrip Pay $11.7M to Settle Kickback Allegations”