Jazz Pharmaceuticals sets aside $57 million to settle DOJ probe

Bloomberg

Jazz Pharmaceuticals Plc reached a tentative agreement with the Justice Department to settle a probe over its donations to charities that help people afford drugs, part of a long-running US investigation into drugmaker ties to such groups.
In a securities filing, the maker of the costly narcolepsy drug Xyrem said it reached an agreement in principle in April for a civil settlement and has set aside $57 million to resolve the probe. The company had previously received multiple subpoenas from the Justice Department over its charitable donations.
“We cannot provide assurances that our efforts to reach a final settlement with the DOJ will be successful,” Jazz said in the filing. “Any such settlement could also involve entry into a corporate integrity agreement, which would impose costs and burdens on the operation of our business.” A Jazz spokeswoman said the company was “pleased” to have reached the agreement in principle. It has a comprehensive program to ensure compliance with government rules, she said.
While drugmakers are allowed to directly help patients who have private insurance, such as by giving them coupons to cover their copays, they can’t do it for the millions of patients on government-funded Medicare plans.