Alpharma Settles Charges of Paying Off Doctors

Alpharma paid out a $42 million multi-state settlement in July 2010 for it role in sponsoring Advisory Boards between 2000 and 2008 that allegedly enticed health care professionals, including physicians and nurses, to participate in the program through lavish kickbacks. According to Attorney General Tom Corbett, Alpharma allegedly offered and paid for training programs, research grants, consulting forums and speaker events in an effort to increase prescriptions of Kadian, a morphine used to mollify intense pain.