Has Biogen faced other kickback allegations?
Yes — a $22 million settlement over using two foundations to cover Medicare copays for Avonex and Tysabri, part of a wider government crackdown that also caught Novartis, Teva and Mallinckrodt.
In an earlier case, Biogen agreed to pay $22 million to resolve claims that it used two charitable foundations as conduits to pay the copays of Medicare patients taking Avonex and Tysabri. The government alleged Biogen worked with a vendor to move patients from its free-drug programme to the foundations, which received contemporaneous donations from Biogen.
Federal law bars drugmakers from paying, directly or indirectly, the copays of Medicare patients for their own drugs, because doing so blunts price sensitivity and can drive up program costs. The case formed part of a wider government crackdown on "copay charity" arrangements that also caught other drugmakers, including Teva, Novartis and Mallinckrodt.