Salix, a subsidiary of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc., recently settled claims involving Anti-Kickback and False Claims Act violations. Interestingly, while many of these agreements we have seen lately do not include any admission of guilt, Salix accepted responsibility for many the alleged activities.
Valeant, the troubled pharmaceutical company that has seen more than its fair share of problems over the last year or so, can soon close the door on at least one of those problems. Salix Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc., recently entered into a settlement stipulation24 to resolve claims against the company that it violated the federal Anti- Kickback Statute (AKS) and False Claims Act (FCA) by using its “speaker programs” as a mechanism to pay kickbacks to doctors. Salix allegedly used the programs to induce healthcare providers (HCPs) to prescribe Salix drugs and medical devices, some of which were reimbursed by federal health care programs.