Abbott Agrees to $1.6 Billion Fine, Five-Year CIA for Depakote Promotion

Abbott Laboratories has agreed to pay $1.6 billion in civil and criminal penalties and submit to a five-year corporate integrity agreement (CIA) to resolve a Justice Department probe into its marketing of antipsychotic Depakote. The settlement is the second-largest payment by a drugmaker to date and comes amid a wave of whistleblower-related, civil healthcare fraud cases brought under the False Claims Act (FCA). Federal healthcare fraud enforcement in fiscal 2011 raked in a record $4.1 billion.
Washington Drug Letter