A recent complaint filed in Federal Court states that Johnson & Johnson paid millions of dollars in kickbacks to nursing homes so they would prescribe patients Risperdal, their popular schizophrenia medication. Additionally, the drug has been found to increase the risk of death in elderly dementia patients.
Yesterday, Johnson & Johnson asked U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns to dismiss the complaint stating that they gave discounts to Omnicare, not kickbacks, and that these discounts did not violate the federal anti-kickback law. However, Assistant District Attorney Gregg Shapiro states that as a result of the discount, Omnicare was instructed to contact thousands of doctors in order to have them prescribe Risperdal, adding that the law does not allow “an agreement to attach strings to the discount.” Stearns has not yet ruled on the complaint.