Cardinal Health to Pay $8M to Resolve 'Upfront Discount' Allegations

 "The transaction did not result in the Government paying more than it was obligated to pay for pharmaceuticals provided by the customer to federal health care program beneficiaries. Cardinal Health strongly believes that it acted appropriately and complied with all applicable laws and regulations," Cardinal Health said in a prepared statement. "In the settlement agreement, Cardinal Health explicitly denies the contentions of the Government and the Plaintiffs. In addition, Cardinal Health contends that the complaint by the plaintiffs contains numerous inaccuracies. While Cardinal Health believes it would have prevailed in litigation, the Company settled for the purpose of avoiding the time and expense of protracted litigation."

The Department of Justice has used the False Claims Act to recover more than $5.5 billion since January 2009 in cases involving fraud against federal healthcare programs.