Pfizer to Pay $14.5 Million for Off-Label Promotion of Detrol
October 26, 2011 by casey
On October 21, 2011, the US Department of Justice announced that the American pharmaceutical company Pfizer Inc. agreed to pay $14.5 million to resolve False Claims Act allegations related to its marketing of the drug Detrol.
The settlement addresses allegations that Pfizer illegally marketed Detrol, a drug for the treatment of overactive bladder, for use in male patients suffering from benign prostatic hypertrophy and several allied conditions, for which the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had not approved the drug as safe and effective.
Under the terms of the settlement, the $14.5 million recovery will be divided between the United States and participating state Medicaid programs, with $11,878,846 going to the federal government and $2,621,154 going to state Medicaid programs. Under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act, whistleblowers will receive a $3,282,019 share of the federal recovery.
“Whistleblowers play an important role in protecting taxpayer funds from fraud and abuse,” said Tony West, Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “Settlements like this one help maintain the integrity of FDA’s drug approval process and support important federal and state health care programs.”
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