BOSTON—A unit of Biovail has agreed to pay nearly $25 million to settle federal criminal charges that it illegally paid doctors so that they would prescribe a blood pressure drug.
The Toronto-based pharmaceutical company and the U.S. Attorney's office in Boston separately announced the settlement Friday involving the 2003 launch of the drug Cardizem LA.
The company said a New Jersey-based subsidiary, Biovail Pharmaceuticals Inc., agreed to plead guilty and pay a total $24.6 million to settle the criminal case.
Prosecutors alleged Biovail Corp. paid thousands of physicians and others up to $1,000 apiece to induce them to either prescribe or recommend Cardizem LA.
U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan's office said the investigation did not implicate the current management of Biovail in the scheme.
