HHS Inspector General Says Smartphone App Won’t Violate Kickback Laws

The HHS Inspector General approved a request by Otsuka America to provide smart phones to poor patients so that they can be monitored while taking an antipsychotic drug.

The company asked the IG to say if it would violate anti-kickback laws to hand out smart phones to patients taking Otsuka’s Abilify MyCite, a drug-and-device combination antipsychotic.

Otsuka said it would use a smart phone app to help ensure that patients took Abilify on time and correctly. The drug has an electronic signal that records when it has been taken, which would be recorded on a smartphone app.