The State of Georgia has joined the federal government and other states to reach an agreement with pharmaceutical manufacturer Novo Nordisk Inc., a subsidiary of Novo Nordisk U.S. Holdings, to settle allegations of improper off-label marketing of the drug NovoSeven Coagulation Factor VIIa. Georgia will receive $154,852.79 as part of the $7.5 million dollars recovered for state Medicaid programs. Medicaid is a health care program jointly funded by the federal and state governments to provide assistance to needy residents.
The settlement called for Novo Nordisk to pay the states and the federal government a total of $25 million dollars to resolve false claims incurred against the federal Medicare and state Medicaid programs for the unlawful marketing of NovoSeven. NovoSeven is only FDA approved to treat specific bleeding disorders for persons with hemophilia or certain blood disorders; however, Novo Nordisk knowingly promoted the drug to control bleeding in all trauma patients who experience severe bleeding, which is outside of its approved use.
State Medicaid programs across the country will receive approximately $7.5 million dollars of the total settlement. The federal portion of the settlement recovery to the Medicare program is approximately $17.5 million. As part of the settlement, Novo Nordisk also entered into a Corporate Integrity Agreement with the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The National Association of Medicaid Fraud Control Units conducted the settlement negotiations on behalf of the states.
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