Donations to Patient Assistance Charities
Teva Pharmaceuticals, the largest generic drug manufacturer in the United States, has agreed to pay $450 million to resolve allegations of violating the False Claims Act and Anti-Kickback Statute arising from purported...more
On August 20, 2024, OIG issued Advisory Opinion No. 24-07 in which it responded to a request for an advisory opinion regarding a nonprofit grant-making organization’s (Requestor) proposal to fund a patient assistance program...more
On July 22, 2024, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) issued Advisory Opinion 24-05, evaluating two manufacturer-sponsored assistance programs under the federal Anti-Kickback...more
In recent years, a circuit split among the United States Courts of Appeals has emerged over how courts have interpreted the False Claims Act’s (“FCA”) causation element in cases where a violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute...more
The Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) recently released a favorable advisory opinion, OIG Advisory Opinion No. 24-02 (the “Opinion”) to a nonprofit organization that provides...more
Healthcare compliance risks exist even when a company takes steps to structure its business activities to follow the government's own statements. A recent decision by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of...more
How could alleged kickbacks threaten to render insolvent a publicly traded company with assets (taken from its latest SEC filing) in excess of $43 billion? The answer stems from a recent decision by the United States District...more
Patient assistance programs (PAPs) that seek to subsidize patient co-payments for drugs covered by Medicare may involve compliance challenges. A recent U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector...more
On October 5, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services published Advisory Opinion No. 22-19, finding that a proposal by an entity funded entirely by manufacturers of oncology...more
The Office of the Inspector General (“OIG”) recently issued Advisory Opinion 22-08 (the “Advisory Opinion”), concluding that the provision of limited use smartphones by a federally qualified health center (“FQHC”) to...more
In Advisory Opinion 20-02, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) approved certain lodging and travel assistance offered by a pharmaceutical manufacturer to patients being administered a drug manufactured by the pharmaceutical...more
On January 21, 2020, the Office of Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“OIG”) published Advisory Opinion 20-02, approving an arrangement under which a pharmaceutical manufacturer provides...more
On September 4, 2019 the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a $15.4 million settlement with pharmaceutical company Mallinckrodt ARD LLC (Mallinckrodt) to resolve alleged violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) in two...more
On April 4, 2019, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced settlements with three pharmaceutical companies, Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc (Jazz), Lundbeck LLC (Lundbeck), and Alexion Pharmaceuticals (Alexion), related to...more
On March 6, 2019, the Department of Health & Human Services, Office of the Inspector General (“OIG”) published a new advisory opinion, No. 19-03 (the “AO”), addressing a proposed arrangement to provide free post-discharge...more
Can a pharmaceutical manufacturer provide free items or services to financially needy Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries without running afoul of the Beneficiary Inducements Civil Monetary Penalty (CMP) or the Anti-Kickback...more
Last week, the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services (OIG) issued a favorable Advisory Opinion regarding a proposal by a pharmaceutical manufacturer (Manufacturer) to loan a...more
On January 24, 2019, OIG issued Advisory Opinion No. 19-02, analyzing a proposed arrangement in which a pharmaceutical manufacturer would loan smartphones to patients who meet certain poverty level requirements in order to...more
On Tuesday, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) published Advisory Opinion No. 19-02, advising that OIG would not pursue enforcement under the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) or the...more
On January 29, the Health and Human Service Office of Inspector General (OIG) released new guidance that sheds further light on the types of patient assistance that may be provided under the “Promotes Access to Care”...more
On March 15, 2018, Skadden hosted its Eighth Annual Pharmaceutical, Biotechnology and Medical Device Seminar in Palo Alto, California, which focused on U.S. enforcement issues faced by companies throughout the industry. The...more
In the midst of ongoing national debates regarding drug pricing [1] and access to innovative therapies, patient assistance programs (“PAPs”) are facing an evolving legal landscape, as well as increased enforcement scrutiny...more
Right before Christmas last year, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced an ominous settlement: United Therapeutics, a manufacturer of pulmonary arterial hypertension drugs, agreed to pay more than $200 million to settle...more
As we discussed last month, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) rescinded Advisory Opinion 06-04 (Opinion 06-04), provided to a nonprofit, tax-exempt, charitable patient assistance program (PAP) because it determined that...more
The Office of Inspector General (OIG) rescinded Advisory Opinion 06-04 (Opinion 06-04) on November 28, 2017, retroactive to its original issuance date of April 20, 2006. Opinion 06-04 had been modified by the OIG on December...more