Gilead Sciences will pay more than $200 million after admitting to a multi-year illegal kickback scheme that pushed its HIV drugs through lavish perks for prescribers.
New York Attorney General Letitia James announced the settlement Tuesday, leading a coalition of 49 attorneys general that accused the pharmaceutical company of using gifts, luxury meals, and paid travel to influence health care providers from 2011 to 2017. New York will receive $6.6 million as part of the $202 million nationwide agreement.
“When pharmaceutical companies put profits before patients, New Yorkers suffer,” James said. “Gilead undermined our health care system with illegal kickback payments, and now they are being held accountable.”
According to the settlement, Gilead paid health care providers tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars to speak at promotional events for its HIV medications, including Stribild, Genvoya, Complera, Odefsey, Descovy, and Biktarvy. The company funded travel to popular destinations like Hawaii, Miami, and New Orleans, and hosted events at high-end restaurants. In New York, venues included Del Posto, Asiate, Palma, and the James Beard House, which hosted 157 of Gilead’s speaker programs.
Federal anti-kickback laws prohibit pharmaceutical companies from offering inducements to influence medical decisions. The investigation found Gilead failed to enforce internal safeguards meant to prevent its sales staff from offering such perks.
The violations included a New York City nurse practitioner who attended 75 dinner programs, including 40 on the same topic repeated multiple times within six months. That nurse often brought a sibling who was not a prescriber. In another case, a group of 10 Manhattan doctors attended or spoke at 384 dinner events—many of which were held within days of one another and often repeated the same content.
The $202 million settlement includes $49 million for state Medicaid programs and additional funds for Medicare, Tricare, and the AIDS Drug Assistance Program. The deal was approved by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in coordination with the U.S. Department of Justice.
Attorney General James credited the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York for its support and thanked staff in her office’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit for their role in the investigation.
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