Former Warner Chilcott Executive Acquitted of Kickbacks Charge
June 17 2016 - 02:30PM
Dow Jones News
A jury in federal court in Boston on Friday acquitted a former
executive with Allergan PLC's Warner Chilcott unit of conspiring to
pay kickbacks to doctors to get them to prescribe the company's
drugs, the U.S. attorney's office in Boston said.
The jury deliberated Thursday and Friday before delivering a
verdict of not guilty in the criminal case of W. Carl Reichel,
former president of Warner Chilcott's pharmaceutical unit. His
trial began in late May.
The acquittal of Mr. Reichel illustrates the challenges the
federal government faces in what it says is a new push to hold more
individuals accountable for alleged corporate wrongdoing. Such
cases have proved difficult in the past because it is tough for
prosecutors to prove an individual had criminal intent in a
corporate setting where decision-making is spread among many.
Federal prosecutors had accused Mr. Reichel of instructing his
company's U.S. sales force to induce doctors to prescribe Warner
Chilcott drugs, including the osteoporosis treatment Atelvia, by
taking them to expensive dinners and paying them fees, ostensibly
to give medical-education speeches to other doctors. Prosecutors
said these speeches were more like social events, with very little
talk of medicine.
In addition, prosecutors said Mr. Reichel, of Chester, N.J.,
instructed the Warner Chilcott sales force to bring food and drink
to reward staffers at physicians' offices for submitting requests
to insurance companies to pay for prescriptions of Warner Chilcott
drugs. The alleged wrongdoing occurred between 2009 and 2011,
before Allergan acquired Warner Chilcott in 2013.
Federal law bars payments that are intended to cause orders for
products that are paid for by a federal health program, which
prosecutors said applies to Warner Chilcott's drugs.
Mr. Reichel had pleaded not guilty. In court documents, his
attorneys said there was no evidence that he intended to violate
the anti-kickback law or that he had any knowledge of doing
anything illegal.
Mr. Reichel's attorneys didn't immediately respond to requests
for comment.
Warner Chilcott in October agreed to plead guilty to a criminal
charge of health-care fraud, arising from similar allegations, and
to pay $125 million to resolve a Justice Department investigation
of its payments to physicians and other practices.
(more to come)
Write to Peter Loftus at peter.loftus@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 17, 2016 14:15 ET (18:15 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Allergan (NYSE:AGN)
Historical Stock Chart
From Feb 2024 to Mar 2024
Allergan (NYSE:AGN)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2023 to Mar 2024