Feds, NY AG sue Novartis over Rx kickback scheme allegations

Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. paid kickbacks to a specialty pharmacy in exchange for recommending refills of a blood transfusion drug it produces, according to an amended complaint filed Wednesday in a civil case brought by state and federal prosecutors in New York. The East Hanover, N.J.-based company boosted its sales of the iron-reduction drug Exjade by giving referrals and rebates to pharmacy BioScrip, which recommended refills to its patients but often ignored warning them of the drug's potentially fatal side effects, which include kidney failure and gastrointestinal hemorrhaging, according to the complaint filed in Manhattan federal court.