ASD Specialty Healthcare, LLC, (ASD) doing business as Oncology Supply Company, a distributor of specialty pharmaceutical products and a subsidiary of Cencora, Inc., f/k/a AmerisourceBergen Corporation, has agreed to pay $1 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by paying kickbacks to healthcare providers (HCPs) and medical practice executives to induce them to purchase specialty pharmaceutical products from Oncology Supply. From January 2012 to October 2019, another Cencora subsidiary, International Oncology Network (“ION”), hosted conferences for its “Large Practice Program” members. At the conferences, ION and Oncology Supply employees provided meals and alcohol at high-end restaurants and various forms of entertainment to healthcare providers and medical practice executives, including rounds of golf and outings at bars and nightclubs.
Additionally, outside the conference setting, from January 2012 to September 2022, ASD Specialty Healthcare, through 15 Oncology Supply and ION employees, also paid for meals and alcohol at high-end restaurants and various other forms of entertainment for HCPs and medical practice executives, including rounds of golf and outings at bars and nightclubs. At some of the events, ASD even covered the expenses of the spouses of HCPs and medical practice executives. The government alleges that ASD caused physicians to submit false claims to Medicare and Medicaid induced by these kickbacks.