AbbVie faces yet another 'white-coat' lawsuit claiming it used kickbacks to help promote Humira

Tuesday in Delaware, when an investor filed a lawsuit against AbbVie claiming that a "white-coat" kickback scheme had exposed the firm to liability, the story had a familiar ring.

Less than two years ago, AbbVie paid $24 million to settle a fraud lawsuit from the California Department of Insurance. Last September, an Illinois judge ruled for investors, allowing that suit to advance as a class action.

The Delaware suit names 12 defendants—current and former AbbVie executives and board members—who ran the company when it was alleged to have provided free “nurse ambassadors” to physicians who prescribed immunology blockbuster Humira.

“By limiting the nurse ambassadors to only physicians who prescribed Humira, the company violated the anti-kickback statute,” the lawsuit read.

AbbVie sent registered nurses to patients’ homes who passed themselves off as working for doctors, when they were instead serving the interests of the company, according to the suit.

“These ambassadors save physicians time, money, and resources,” the lawsuit read. “At no cost and considerable gain to the physician’s office, AbbVie nurses provide patient care, pharmacy and insurance, authorization assistance, open enrollment resources, paperwork help,  advice on insurance products, and other services, all of which provide a substantial value, so long as the doctors prescribe AbbVie’s drug instead of selecting another course of  treatment.”

An AbbVie spokesperson didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

In the California case, insurance officials alleged that AbbVie also provided physicians with traditional kickbacks such as cash, meals, drinks, gifts, trips and patient referrals to induce and reward Humira prescriptions.

The Delaware lawsuit claims AbbVie deceived investors by attributing the success of Humira to the company’s sales and marketing acumen. Then when the kickback allegations became public, AbbVie’s stock price dropped, and investors lost money.

The California case was initially sparked by a Florida whistleblower, a former AbbVie nurse, who said that the company used the ambassadors to prevent patient complaints about Humira from reaching doctors.

Many other companies have had to fend off charges of similar tactics, referred to as “white-coat” marketing. In 2017, Novo Nordisk settled a whistleblower complaint over similar claims about its diabetes drug promotions.

In 2018, when the National Healthcare Analysis Group and other organizations sued 11 companies including Amgen, Biogen, AstraZeneca, AbbVie, Bayer, Lilly and Gilead for their “white-coat” strategies, it drew the attention of Congress. But the government quickly concluded that the allegations lacked sufficient merit to justify the cost of the investigation and prosecution.