C.R. Bard, Inc. (“Bard”) and its affiliates, Liberator Medical Supply, Inc., Liberator Holdings and Rochester Medical Corporation (collectively the “Liberator Defendants”), have agreed to pay $17 million to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act and various state false claims act statutes by providing free samples and discounts to encourage urology practice groups to use Bard’s prescription form for prescribing intermittent catheters for their patients. The Government alleges that, between 2016 and February 2020, the Liberator Defendants provided discounts, excessive free samples, and cost savings for in-office supplies to urology practice groups to persuade those practice groups to use Bard’s own “Link” prescription form to prescribe intermittent catheters to their patients. The provision of remuneration—anything of value—to induce a physician to prescribe certain devices over others is prohibited by the Anti-Kickback Statute, 42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7b.
