Johnson & Johnson settles "kickback" charges with $2.2 billion penalty

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It was a good day for the government.  Along with reports that SAC Capital will pay $1.8 billion in fines related to insider trading allegations, Johnson & Johnson has reportedly agreed to pay $2.2 billion to settle allegations regarding the marketing of drugs for unapproved uses and the payment of kickbacks to doctors and nursing homes.
The penalties announced Monday involve fines and forfeiture to the federal government and several states. The settlement involves the schizophrenia drugs Risperdal and Invega, and the heart failure drug Natrecor, the company and Attorney General Eric Holder said...

The penalty amounts to one of the country's largest health care-related settlements, the Justice Department said.

It also results in what one plaintiff's attorney called the largest whistleblower payout in U.S. history. Whistleblowers in three states will collect $167.7 million under the False Claims Act...

The settlement includes payments to the federal government and several states by Johnson & Johnson, as well as subsidiaries Janssen Pharmaceuticals and Scios.
The entire CNN article is available here.

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