Novartis to Pay $49.2 Million in Civil, Criminal Penalties
- Share via
A unit of Novartis agreed to pay $49.2 million in civil and criminal fines and be excluded from federal healthcare contracts to resolve a probe into its marketing of nutritional products to Medicare and Medicaid.
Novartis’ OPI Properties will pay a criminal fine of $4.5 million for trying to obstruct a federal audit, said Ronald J. Tenpas, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Illinois. The company will pay an additional $44.7 million to settle civil charges involving Medicare and Medicaid, the U.S. health plans for elderly, poor and disabled Americans.
The agreement is part of a broader U.S. investigation into billing and marketing practices in the enteral nutritional products industry, which makes liquid supplements and equipment for patients on feeding tubes.
Prosecutors have collected $670 million in fines. Abbott Laboratories agreed to pay $622 million in 2003 as part of the same probe.
“The quality of our products or their safety was never in question,” said Sheldon Jones, a U.S. spokesman for Basel, Switzerland-based Novartis.
The FBI, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the inspector general for the Department of Health and Human Services participated in the investigation.
Inside the business of entertainment
The Wide Shot brings you news, analysis and insights on everything from streaming wars to production — and what it all means for the future.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
