Actelion agrees to $360 million settlement with DoJ

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) subsidiary Actelion has agreed to pay $360 million to resolve claims that it illegally used a foundation as a conduit to pay the co-pays of thousands of Medicare patients taking Actelion’s pulmonary arterial hypertension drugs, in violation of the False Claims Act, the US Department of Justice announced yesterday.

Congress included co-pay requirements in the Medicare program, in part, to serve as a check on health care costs, including the prices that pharmaceutical manufacturers can demand for their drugs. This is the largest such settlement so far to result from an industry-wide probe into such activities.

Actelion did not admit wrongdoing as part of the settlement. “We are committed to full compliance with all laws and regulations in our work to help patients get the medicines they need. Today’s agreement resolves the government’s investigation into Actelion’s donations to a patient assistance foundation in 2014 and 2015, before the company was acquired in 2017,” said a spokesperson for the company.