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• Government Actions:

  Settlement
  

  The following describes a government action that has been resolved by either a settlement or a decision by a court or administrative agency. If the matter is being appealed, it will be noted below.

  NEWARK, N.J.  07/28/2020 – Pacira Pharmaceuticals Inc. will pay $3.5 million to resolve allegations that it paid kickbacks to doctors in the form of bogus research grants to induce them to prescribe its analgesic EXPAREL. The allegations arose from a whistleblower suit filed under the False Claims Act.

  According to documents filed in this case and the contentions of the United States contained in the settlement agreement:

  From Dec. 1, 2012, through April 30, 2015, Pacira paid disguised kickbacks in the form of research and other grants to healthcare providers and institutions. Pacira intended these payments to induce sales of its newly-launched local analgesic, EXPAREL, to the targeted physicians and their respective hospitals. The research grants in question were typically initiated by Pacira sales representatives or marketing executives, who discussed internally their sales goals in connection with the grant. Pacira also required that EXPAREL be placed on formulary at the physician’s institution before awarding any research grant.

  After awarding the grant money, Pacira expressed little interest in the proposed research. In many cases, Pacira did not follow up with the grant recipient to ensure that the work was being performed, and in some cases, the grant recipient did no work at all.

  Medicare and Medicaid do not pay for claims that include products tainted by illegal kickbacks. Pacira caused the submission of false claims by using these research grants to induce sales of EXPAREL, which it knew would be used in procedures reimbursed by Medicare and Medicaid.

  The allegations were raised in a lawsuit filed under the qui tam, or whistleblower, provisions of the False Claims Act, which allows private citizens with knowledge of fraud to bring civil actions on behalf of the Government and to share in any recovery.

  The case is captioned United States ex rel. Schneider v. Pacira Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (D.N.J.).  NJ is one of 15 states, along with the federal government, settling allegations of kickback violations against Pacira. 

  The claims settled by this agreement are allegations only, and there have been no admissions of liability.

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