California Pharmaceutical Sales Representative Agreed to Be Excluded for 5 Years for Allegedly Providing Improper Remuneration to Physician in the Form of Free Samples in Exchange for Referrals

A former pharmaceutical sales representative and sales manager for Sanofi, agreed to be excluded from participating in Federal health care programs for five years under 42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7(b)(7). OIG alleged that the sales representative provided samples of the viscosupplement Hyalgan to physicians with the expectation that the physicians would bill Medicare for the samples. OIG further alleged that the sales representative provided an agreed number of samples with each order of a specified size, that these off-the-books discounts constituted remuneration under the Anti-Kickback statute (42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7b(b)(2)), and that these alleged kickbacks were provided for the purpose of assuring the physicians' continued use of the product.

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