U.S. prosecutors said Novartis sales representatives will testify that they bribed doctors with lavish perks in exchange for promises to prescribe specific drugs, as a seven-year-old case heads toward trial.
The perks include paid speaking opportunities offering "little educational value," expensive meals, booze and trips.
The U.S. sued Novartis in 2013, intervening in earlier whistle-blower bribery allegations in New York. Finally, in March 2017, Novartis was ordered to give prosecutors records from about 80,000 events that the government claims were used to wine and dine doctors so they would prescribe the drugmaker’s cardiovascular drugs.
Novartis attorneys argue that the government lacks the evidence to support these allegations.
Read the Bloomberg coverage