Abbott Double Whammy

Yesterday, Kos Pharmaceuticals, a unit of Abbott Laboratories, was charged by the Justice Department with paying more than $41 million to resolve a U.S. probe of the company’s promotion of the drugs Advicor and Niaspan for unapproved uses. The original charges brought forth by prosecutors accused Kos of conspiring to violate the so-called anti-kickback stature in the form of cash, travel, grants and honoraria to doctors and other medical professionals to prescribe the drugs for uses not approved by the FDA. Kos will pay a $3.4 million fine and $38 million to resolve the civil case.

In a separate but equally disturbing case today, Abbott Laboratories, Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH’s Roxane unit and B. Braun Melsungen agreed to pay $421 million to settle claims they overcharged the U.S. for certain medications in order to increase reimbursements from Medicare and Medicaid.  Abbott is expected to pay $126.5 million, Boehringer’s Roxane to pay $280 million and B. Braun to pay $14.7 million.