The lawsuit, filed by whistleblower Steven Camburn, alleges that Novartis illegally remunerated physicians to induce them to prescribe its drug Gilenya, which treats multiple sclerosis, through a “peer to peer” speaker program, according to court documents obtained by Becker’s.
Mr. Camburn, a former Novartis sales executive, claims the company used speaker events and excessive compensation to influence doctors’ prescribing practices, violating the Antitrust Kickback Statute. The district court had dismissed his third amended complaint, ruling that his allegations did not meet the heightened pleading standards.
However, the appeals court reversed part of its decision, ruling that Mr. Camburn had sufficiently alleged an AKS violation related to specific practices including speaker events with no legitimate attendees, excessive payments for canceled events and the selection of speakers to encourage higher prescription rates.
The appeals court affirmed the district court’s dismissal of other allegations for lack of specificity and remanded the case for further proceedings on claims related to the speaker program.
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