Celgene Corp. has agreed to pay $280 million to settle a whistleblower lawsuit alleging the pharmaceutical company committed fraud promoting a drug with a notorious history that was re-purposed to treat leprosy and another therapy for unapproved cancer treatments, federal prosecutors announced Tuesday.
The agreement settled a lawsuit in Los Angeles federal court by a former Celgene saleswoman who said the New Jersey-based company submitted false claims to Medicare and health care programs in 28 states and Washington, D.C., which were all parties to the settlement.
“Patients deserve to know their doctors are prescribing drugs that are likely to provide effective treatment, rather than drugs marketed aggressively by pharmaceutical companies,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Sandra R. Brown.
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