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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Drug giant AbbVie has illegally hired doctors, gifts and services to prescribe one of the world's best-selling drugs, Humira, despite life-threatening complications.
The lawsuit filed by the state's insurance commissioner accuses the company of a large bribe program that has led physicians to write more prescriptions for the drug, tainting their relationship with patients and causing higher insurance costs. It is likely that patients were prescribed Humira because of the bribes provided by AbbVie and not because it was the best medicine to treat them, said California Commissioner Dave Jones at the time. a conference call.
"Ultimately, AbbVie has focused on the health and safety of thousands of Californians, including children, by ensuring that patients continue to take Humira at all costs to protect their benefits and not the health and well-being. -being patients ". .
Humira is a widely advertised injectable medicine for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory conditions. It is accompanied by a warning for cancer and serious infections that can become life threatening. According to the lawsuit, sales exceeded $ 12 billion in 2017.
Jones said insurance companies paid Humira more than $ 1.2 billion for thousands of Californian patients between 2013 and August 2018. According to Jones' office, this lawsuit is the largest case of fraud in the world. history of the department.
AbbVie, who faces multi-billion dollar fines, said the allegations were "baseless".
"AbbVie operates in compliance with the many federal and state laws that govern interactions with healthcare providers and patients," the company's statement said.
According to the lawsuit, AbbVie paid doctors for meals, drinks and trips to make them write more prescriptions for Humira. The lawsuit also included nurses that the company sent home to patients taking the drug, according to the lawsuit.
Nurses saved doctors money by processing documents and other tasks normally performed by doctors' offices. They were touted as extensions of doctors' offices, but actually prevented patients from reporting their concerns about Humira to doctors and minimized drug-related risks, according to Jones and the lawsuit.
"If one has the choice between two drugs, one with nurses and administrative staff free and another that requires the provider to pay professional wages, the provider can only contribute to the substantial decline in nursing in their calculation, "says the trial.
AbbVie stated that the nursing support and other support services that it provides allow patients to follow their therapy and "do not replace or interfere in any way with the interactions between patients and patients. their health care providers. "
The state lawsuit is based on allegations of a registered nurse who worked for AbbVie. The nurse is also a party to the lawsuit.
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