A California pharmaceutical company has agreed to pay $750,000 to settle accusations the company paid indirect kickbacks through the girlfriend of a doctor who prescribed large amounts of opioids the company marketed and sold, the U.S. Attorney for New Jersey’s Office said Thursday.
The settlement involves Sentynl Therapeutics of Solana Beach, California, a company that marketed and sold the prescription opioids Abstral and Levorphanol, medications the FDA says manage breakthrough pain in cancer patients. Sentynl denies the allegations and did not admit any liability under the terms of the settlement.
“The opioid crisis has had devastating impacts here in New Jersey and for the country at large,” U.S. Attorney Phillip R. Sellinger said. “Here, this pharmaceutical company is alleged to have indirectly paid unlawful kickbacks to a doctor by employing his girlfriend in an effort to improperly induce him to prescribe their opioid products.”
