Teva Pharmaceuticals Agrees to $450M Settlement Over Kickback and Price-Fixing Allegations

Settlement Amount:
Teva Pharmaceuticals has agreed to pay $450 million to settle allegations of violating the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) and the False Claims Act (FCA).

Allegations: The company is accused of engaging in two unlawful schemes:

Kickback Scheme:
Teva allegedly covered copays for Medicare patients taking Copaxone, a multiple sclerosis treatment, through third-party foundations and a specialty pharmacy from 2006 to 2017.

Price-Fixing Scheme:
Teva is accused of colluding with other generic drug manufacturers to manipulate prices of several generic drugs, including pravastatin, clotrimazole, and tobramycin.

Criminal Penalties:
$225 million of the settlement consists of criminal penalties that Teva USA had already paid under a deferred prosecution agreement with the Department of Justice.

Payment Structure:
The settlement amount will be paid over six years, with $425 million resolving the kickback claims and $25 million settling the price-fixing allegations.

Legal Context:
This settlement is part of a broader crackdown on price manipulation and kickbacks in the pharmaceutical sector, with the Justice Department recovering over $1 billion from similar cases since 2017.