The Department of Justice announced that Avanir Pharmaceuticals (Avanir), a pharmaceutical manufacturer based in Aliso Viejo, California, has been charged for paying kickbacks to a physician to induce prescriptions of its drug Nuedexta. As alleged in a one-count Information, Avanir violated the Anti-Kickback Statute by paying a doctor to induce him to become a high prescriber of Nuedexta to beneficiaries of federal healthcare programs, offering him financial incentives to write additional Nuedexta prescriptions for beneficiaries of federal healthcare programs, and inducing him to recommend that other physicians prescribe Nuedexta to beneficiaries of federal healthcare programs. Nuedexta is approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of pseudobulbar affect (PBA), which is characterized by involuntary, sudden, and frequent episodes of laughing or crying, and occurs secondary to a neurologic disease or brain injury. The Northern District of Georgia also announced a deferred prosecution agreement resolving the charge, under which Avanir admits that it paid the doctor to induce him to not only maintain, but increase his prescription volume. Under the agreement’s terms, Avanir will pay a monetary penalty in the amount of $7,800,000, and a forfeiture in the amount of $5,074,895.
