Takeda Agrees to Pay $13.6M to Resolve False Claims Allegations Relating to Improper Payments to Physicians

Takeda Pharmaceuticals, U.S.A. Inc. has agreed to pay $13,670,921 to resolve allegations that it knowingly caused the submission of false claims to Medicare and other federal health care programs by paying kickbacks to healthcare providers to induce prescriptions of Trintellix, an antidepressant medication that Takeda marketed and sold to treat major depressive disorder. The Anti‑Kickback Statute prohibits offering or paying anything of value to induce the referral of items or services covered by Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE, and other federal health care programs. The statute is intended to ensure that the judgments of healthcare professionals are not compromised by improper financial incentives. The civil settlement resolves allegations that, from January 2014 to October 2020, Takeda paid improper remuneration, including in the form of speaker honoraria and meals at high-end restaurants, to healthcare professionals to induce them to prescribe the antidepressant medication Trintellix in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute. The United States contends that Takeda selected certain healthcare providers to be part of the Trintellix speaker bureau and provided them paid speaking opportunities with the intent that the speaker honoraria and meals would induce them to prescribe Trintellix. The government further contends that certain prescribers who attended multiple programs on the same topic and received meals and drinks from Takeda received no educational benefit from attending duplicate programs.