http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/15/AR2010011503903.html Medical giant Johnson & Johnson paid tens of millions of dollars in kickbacks to boost sales of its drugs in nursing homes, including an antipsychotic that can be used as a chemical restraint, the Justice Department alleged in a lawsuit Friday.
The payments, sometimes disguised as grants or educational funding, were funneled to Omnicare, a pharmacy company that dispenses drugs in nursing homes and used its influence with doctors to get prescriptions switched, the government said. Johnson & Johnson came to regard Omnicare pharmacists as an extension of its sales force, the government said, citing a company document.
"Kickbacks such as those alleged here distort the judgments of health care professionals and put profits ahead of sound medical treatment," Tony West, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's Civil Division, said in a news release.
Johnson & Johnson spokeswoman Carol Goodrich said the company looks forward to presenting its evidence in court.
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