RALEIGH, N.C. (Legal Newsline) - North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper announced a multi-state and federal settlement on Monday with a medical device manufacturer that allegedly engaged in improper marketing and the payment of illegal kickbacks.
CareFusion will pay $40.1 million to resolve allegations of improperly promoting and marketing its surgical preparation solution Chloraprep and concealing kickbacks to a doctor who promoted the drug. North Carolina will receive $581,363.13 to resolve allegations CareFusion defrauded the state's Medicaid program.
"Using trickery to sell medical products diverts tax dollars for treatments that aren't approved as safe and effective," Cooper said. "This kind of fraud cheats Medicaid and also drives up health care costs for everyone."
CareFusion allegedly promoted and marketed Chloraprep for uses that were not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. While Chloraprep was approved for very specific inpatient hospital procedures, CareFusion allegedly promoted the surgical preparation for use with intravenous preparation and suture care, even though the FDA rejected Chloraprep for such uses.
CareFusion also allegedly entered into agreements to make payments to Health Care Concepts Inc. to promote Chloraprep to other healthcare providers.
CareFusion's conduct allegedly resulted in false and/or fraudulent claims being submitted to government funded healthcare programs, such as Medicaid.
CareFusion paying $40.1M in False Claims Act settlement
