Teva agrees to pay $450m to resolve kickback allegations, US Justice Dept says

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – New Jersey-based drugmaker Teva has agreed to pay $450 million to resolve allegations that it violated an anti-kickback statute and the False Claims Act, the U.S. Justice department said in a statement on Thursday.

“Kickbacks designed to induce referrals or purchases of healthcare goods or services distort physician and patient decision-making, thwart competition and bypass controls put in place to protect federal health care programs,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the department’s civil division.

(Reporting by Jasper Ward and Katharine Jackson, editing by David Ljunggren)