Johnson & Johnson pays $2.2 billion to settle drug fraud case

Johnson & Johnson pays $2.2 billion to settle drug fraud case

November 04, 2013, 12:13 pm

http://thehill.com/blogs/regwatch/healthcare/189134-johnson-johnson-pays-22-billion-to-settle-drug-fraud-case

Johnson & Johnson will pay more than $2.2 billion to settle accusations that the healthcare heavyweight and its subsidiaries engaged in far-reaching schemes involving illegal marketing and kickbacks, the Justice Department announced Monday.

The settlement, stemming from a decadelong investigation, is among the largest of its kind in U.S. history.

"These companies lined their pockets at the expense of the American taxpayers, patients and the private insurance industry," Attorney General Eric Holder said.

Johnson & Johnson allegedly promoted drugs for uses not approved by the Food and Drug Administration. In one instance, Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. violated FDA regulations by illegally marketing the anti-schizophrenia drug Risperdal to treat non-schizophrenics, including elderly people suffering from dementia.

Johnson & Johnson and Janssen allegedly downplayed serious health risks associated with Risperdal, including the potential for stroke, and paid doctors to induce them to prescribe the drug.

As part of the scheme, the companies allegedly paid kickbacks to the country's biggest long-term care pharmacy, which, in turn, recommended Risperdal for people suffering from Alzheimer's disease, Holder said.

The plot resulted in taxpayer-funded government healthcare programs spending millions in false claims for the drugs.

The allegations unveiled Monday also include the anti-psychotic drug Invega and the heart drug Natrecor.

The companies have agreed to pay $400 million in criminal fines, $149 million to resolve the kickback claims and $1.2 billion to resolve their criminal liability under the False Claims Act.

Johnson & Johnson

Sidley Austin LLP was the lobby firm for Johnson & Johnson.

Note: Michelle Obama was a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP.

Barack Obama was an intern at Sidley Austin LLP.

R. Eden Martin is counsel at Sidley Austin LLP, and the president of the Commercial Club of Chicago.

Commercial Club of Chicago, Members Directory

http://commercialclubchicago.org/members/e.html

Please note: This link for the members of the Commercial Club of Chicago can no longer be found.

Cyrus F. Freidheim Jr. is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank).

Klaus Kleinfeld is a trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), a trustee at the Conference Board, and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).

Ian E.L. Davis was a trustee at the Conference Board, and is a director at the Johnson & Johnson.

Ronald A. Williams is the vice chairman for the Conference Board, and a director at the Johnson & Johnson.

Brenda S. Davis was a corporate compliance officer & VP for Johnson & Johnson, and is a governing council member for the Wilderness Society.

Richard C. Blum is a governing council member for the Wilderness Society, married to Senator Dianne Feinstein, and an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank).

Charles O. Prince III was a trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and is a director at Johnson & Johnson.

Ann Dibble Jordan was a director at Johnson & Johnson, is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and married to Vernon E. Jordan Jr.

Vernon E. Jordan Jr. is married to Ann Dibble Jordan, an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), a senior counsel for Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP, a life trustee at the Urban Institute (think tank), Valerie B. Jarrett’s great uncle, a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).

Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP was the lobby firm for Johnson & Johnson.

James E. Burke was a life trustee the Urban Institute (think tank), and the chairman & CEO for Johnson & Johnson.

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Brookings Institution (think tank), the Urban Institute (think tank), and the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund.

George Soros is the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society, and the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations.

Open Society Foundations was a funder for the American Constitution Society.

Eric H. Holder Jr. was an intern at the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, a board member for the American Constitution Society, a partner at Covington & Burling LLP, a trustee at Save the Children, is a trustee at the Morehouse School of Medicine, and the attorney general at the U.S. Department of Justice for the Barack Obama administration.

Covington & Burling LLP is the lobby firm for Johnson & Johnson.

Ronald A. Williams is a trustee at Save the Children, and a director at Johnson & Johnson.

Anne M. Mulcahy is a trustee at Save the Children, and a director at Johnson & Johnson.

David Satcher was the interim president for the Morehouse School of Medicine, and a director at Johnson & Johnson.