Attorney General James Secures Over $200 Million from Gilead Sciences for Paying Illegal Kickbacks

AG James Leads Coalition Stopping Gilead’s Illegal Scheme to Promote HIV Medication. New York Will Receive $6.6 Million from Multistate Settlement in Principle

– New York Attorney General Letitia James today led a coalition of 48 other attorneys general in securing $202 million from Gilead Sciences, Inc. (Gilead), for running an illegal kickback scheme to promote its HIV medications. Gilead violated federal law by illegally providing incentives – including awards, meals, and travel expenses – to health care providers to prescribe Gilead’s medications, resulting in millions of dollars of false claims submitted to government health care programs, including New York’s Medicaid program. The settlement in principle, reached in coordination with the U.S. Department of Justice and approved by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, provides $49 million for Medicaid programs nationwide, including $6.6 million for New York, with the remainder going to Medicare, Tricare, and the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP).  

“When pharmaceutical companies put profits before patients, New Yorkers suffer,” said Attorney General James. “Patients must be able to trust that their doctors’ recommendations are in their best interest, and not the result of gifts from a drug company. Gilead undermined our health care system with illegal kickback payments, and now they are being held accountable. I will continue to fight for New Yorkers’ right to honest, transparent health care.” 

From January 2011 to November 2017, Gilead violated federal anti-kickback laws by providing gifts to health care providers who attended and spoke at promotional speaker programs for Gilead’s HIV drugs: Stribild, Genvoya, Complera, Odefsey, Descovy, and Biktarvy. Gilead paid high-volume prescribers tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars to present as “HIV Speakers.” The company also covered travel expenses for speakers, including those traveling long distances and to attractive destinations, such as Hawaii, Miami, and New Orleans, and hosted dinners at high-end restaurants. In New York, Gilead held dinners at several upscale restaurants including Del Posto, Asiate, and Palma. Gilead also held 157 HIV Speaker Programs at the James Beard House, making it one of Gilead’s most used venues for HIV Speaker Programs.

Gilead’s internal compliance mechanisms failed to halt these violations. The company maintained policies and procedures that failed to prevent its sales representatives from improperly offering incentives to induce prescriptions. Examples of this conduct include:

• A nurse practitioner in New York City who attended 75 HIV Dinner Programs. This nurse practitioner attended 40 HIV Dinner Programs on the same topic three times or more within a six-month period. This nurse practitioner often brought their sibling—a pediatric nurse practitioner and non-prescriber of Gilead HIV drugs—to the programs.
• In certain instances, the same group of doctors repeatedly attended the same HIV Speaker Programs together at various restaurants. For example, a group of ten doctors in Manhattan spoke at or attended approximately 384 HIV Dinner Programs at which the others were in attendance. Over 300 of these 384 HIV Dinner Programs were led by one of these 10 doctors. Each of the doctors repeatedly attended HIV Speaker Programs within 90 days of speaking on the same topic. In many instances, they attended a Dinner Program less than two weeks after speaking on the same topic.

Attorney General James thanks the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York for its partnership and assistance.

Joining Attorney General James in securing settlements with Gilead are the attorneys general of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

A National Association of Medicaid Fraud Control Units (NAMFCU) team participated in the investigation and conducted the settlement negotiations with Gilead on behalf of the states. In addition to New York, the team included representatives from the offices of the attorneys general of California, Indiana, North Carolina, and Virginia.

This matter was handled for New York by Assistant Attorneys General Jill D. Brenner and Nathan Shi, as well as Senior Auditor Investigator Tatum Serfilippi under the supervision of Medicaid Fraud Control Unit Director Amy Held and Assistant Deputy Attorney General Paul J. Mahoney. The Division of Criminal Justice is led by Chief Deputy Attorney General José Maldonado under the oversight of First Deputy Attorney General Jennifer Levy. 

New York MFCU’s total funding for federal fiscal year (FY) 2025 is $70,502,916. Of that total, 75 percent, or $52,877,188, is awarded under a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The remaining 25 percent, totaling $17,625,728 for FY 2025, is funded by New York State.

Letitia James

New York State Attorney General

July 15, 2025 NEW YORK

Sources: ag.ny.gov/

Big New York – New Jersey, Connecticut News Business – Job- Moneymakers – Resume – Services – Hospitals-ITTri-state area –  New York – New York City – Manhattan – Brooklyn – Queens – Staten Island – Bronx – Long Island

Please follow and like us: