California Alleges AbbVie Paid Kickbacks to Boost Humira Prescriptions

California’s Department of Insurance filed suit against AbbVie Tuesday alleging the company increased Humira prescriptions through kickbacks and paid nurses to push patients to refill prescriptions.

Between 2013 and 2018, the lawsuit claims, AbbVie offered doctors incentives such as free meals, gifts, trips and cash payoffs to prescribe the rheumatoid arthritis drug. The drugmaker also hired registered nurses to visit patients at home, purportedly to help administer the drug but in fact to make sure they refilled their prescriptions, according to California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones.

The alleged scheme led to the submission of 274,000 private insurance claims for Humira, Jones said.