A subsidiary of the American pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson (J&J) has to pay the US government 1.64 billion dollars (1.5 billion euros) for wrong claims about two HIV drugs. The Bloomberg financial news agency reports this. Johnson & Johnson is convinced of his own right and appeals.
The case is about two HIV drugs, Prezista and Intelence, which were marketed by Janssen Products LP, which, like the Belgian Janssen Pharmaceutica, is part of J&J. According to two whistleblowers from the company, Janssen Products LP would have misled doctors by wrongly saying that the medicines were suitable for people with lipid disorders (for example high cholesterol).
In June, Janssen Products was sentenced by a jury to a fine of $ 150 million. The company, however, thought that there was too little evidence and that the jury was incorrectly informed in the file. That is why it applied for a new lawsuit.
But that application has led to an adverse effect. A federal court in New Jersey has rarely raised the amounts in a ruling of 28 March. According to the judge, it has indeed been proven that the company had made incorrect claims about the medicines, as a result of which doctors have wrongly claimed reimbursements from the government.
That is why Janssen Products must now pay $ 360 million in compensation. A fine of no less than 1.28 billion dollars is added. J&J remains convinced that it has correctly complied with the rules of the American food and drug regulator (FDA) and appeals.