King unit to pay $42 million to settle kickback claims from US whistleblower suit
This article was originally published in Scrip
Executive Summary
King Pharmaceuticals' subsidiary Alpharma has agreed to pay $42.5 million in a civil settlement to resolve allegations that between 1 January 2000 and 29 December 2008 it gave kickbacks to doctors to prescribe the pain drug Kadian (morphine sulfate extended-release) and misrepresented its safety and effectiveness, the US Justice Department said. The allegations stemmed from the filing of a whistleblower suit in 2006 by Debra Parks, and Ms Parks will receive $5.3 million of the settlement under whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act.