Amgen Corporation – $762 Million Settlement

Case name: United States ex rel. Kelly v. Amgen Corporation
Case type: Whistleblower & Qui Tam
Filed in: [U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania]
Docket: Case No.: 1:08-cv-04157-SJ-RML

Case Summary

In December 2012, Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight and the U.S. Government settled a whistleblower action under the False Claims Act (“FCA”) with Amgen Corporation, a leading biotech industry company.

As part of the settlement, Amgen agreed to pay the government $762 million. The Relator, who was represented by Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, had been employed as an oncology pharmaceutical sales representative for Amgen from 2002 through 2005.

The Complaint, filed in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania before being transferred to the Eastern District of New York (Case No.: 08 cv-4157), alleged that Amgen paid hospitals and physicians illegal kickbacks, in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute, to induce them to buy and use Amgen medications including Arenesp. The Complaint further alleged that Amgen’s kickback campaign resulted in the off-label use of medications, often to the detriment of patients’ health, and caused federal health care programs such as Medicare and Medicaid to incur unnecessary costs.