Global Navigation
Office of The Attorney General
The State of New Jersey Office of The Attorney General (Dept. of Law & Public Safety) The State of New Jersey NJ Home Services A to Z Departments/Agencies OAG Frequently Asked Questions
Services A to Z Departments/Agencies OAG Frequently Asked Questions
OAG Home
OAG Contact
spacer
Back to News Releases
OAG Home Attorney General's Biography
Attorney General's Biography
spacer spacer spacer
   
 
spacer spacer spacer
spacer spacer spacer
For Immediate Release: For Further Information:
March 12, 2014

Office of The Attorney General
- John J. Hoffman, Acting Attorney General
Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor
- Ronald Chillemi, Acting Insurance Fraud Prosecutor
Media Inquiries-
Lee Moore
609-292-4791


Citizen Inquiries-

609-984-5828
spacer
spacer spacer spacer
spacer
New Jersey Joins Global Settlement with Genzyme Corp. Over Alleged Kickbacks to Promote Anti-Adhesion Product
spacer
spacer spacer spacer
spacer
TRENTON – Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman announced today that New Jersey has joined a global settlement resolving civil allegations that Genzyme Corp. caused false claims to be submitted to federal and state health care programs by unlawfully marketing a “slurry” version of its adhesion barrier product known as Seprafilm.

Genzyme is a biotechnology corporation based in Cambridge, Mass. Its product Seprafilm is a thin film designed to reduce adhesions after open abdominal surgery by forming a barrier between abdominal tissue and the body’s organs.

The settlement announced today resolves allegations that Genzyme sales representatives taught doctors and other staff how to create a non-approved “slurry” version of Seprafilm by cutting Seprafilm sheets into small pieces, adding saline and allowing the pieces to dissolve until a desired consistency was reached. This slurry mixture was used in laparoscopic surgeries by inserting a catheter filled with the mixture into a patient’s body and applying it into the abdominal cavity. Genzyme sales representatives allegedly traded recipes for Seprafilm slurry, and trained each other in how to create it.

Seprafilm is approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration for use in open abdominal surgery, but not for minimally invasive surgeries such as laparoscopic surgery. In addition, because Seprafilm’s original chemistry, composition and overall consistency are changed through the process of turning it into a slurry, it is alleged that the slurry is not the same product, and that FDA approval of Seprafilm does not cover the slurry.

Through its conduct, Genzyme is alleged to have knowingly caused hospitals and other purchasers of Seprafilm to submit false and fraudulent claims to federal health care programs for uses of Seprafilm that were not reimbursable.

“Whether we are talking about drugs, topical medications or, as in this case, an anti-adhesion barrier for surgical patients, the marketing of treatments for unapproved uses is wholly inappropriate, and the resultant false billing to government health care programs costs us all,” said Acting Attorney General Hoffman. “Our commitment is to identify this kind of conduct and, working both on our own and in collaboration with our state and federal partners, to hold those involved accountable.”

As part of the overall Genzyme settlement, New Jersey will receive $102,000 in restitution and other recoveries.

spacer
spacer spacer spacer
spacer
 
 
Contact OAG About OAG
OAG News OAG Frequently Asked Questions
OAG Library Employment
OAG Grants Proposed Rules
OAG History OAG Services A-Z
OAG Agencies / Programs / Units
Other News Pages Otras Noticias en Español Division of NJ State Police Division of Law News Governor's Office News Division of Highway Traffic Safety News Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Juvenile Justice Commission News Division on Civil Rights News Division of Consumer Affairs News Division of Criminal Justice News Election Law Enforcement Commission Division of Gaming Enforcement News
NJ State Police News Governor's Office News Division of Highway Traffic Safety News Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Juvenile Justice Commission News Division on Civil Rights News Division of Consumer Affairs News Division of Criminal Justice News Election Law Enforcement Commission Division of Elections News Division of Gaming Enforcement News Office of Government Integrity News

free PDF plugin

NJ State Police News Governor's Office News Division of Highway Traffic Safety News Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Juvenile Justice Commission News Division on Civil Rights News Division of Consumer Affairs News Division of Criminal Justice News Election Law Enforcement Commission Division of Elections News Division of Gaming Enforcement News Office of Government Integrity News
   
Contact Us | Privacy Notice | Legal Statement | Accessibility Statement
NJ Home Logo
Departmental: OAG Home | Contact OAG | About OAG | OAG News | OAG FAQs
Statewide: NJ Home | Services A to Z | Departments/Agencies | FAQs
Copyright © State of New Jersey
This page is maintained by OAG Communications. Comments/Questions: email or call 609-292-4925
OAG Home OAG Home NJ State Police News Governor's Office News Division of Highway Traffic Safety News Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Juvenile Justice Commission News Division on Civil Rights News Division of Consumer Affairs News Division of Criminal Justice News Election Law Enforcement Commission Division of Elections News Division of Gaming Enforcement News Office of Government Integrity News Click to Enlarge Image Click to Enlarge Image Click to Enlarge Graphic Click to enlarge chart Click to enlarge map Click to Enlarge Click to Enlarge Click to Enlarge Click to Enlarge Click to Enlarge Click to Enlarge Click to Enlarge Click to Enlarge Click to Enlarge Click to Enlarge Click to Enlarge Click to Enlarge Click to Enlarge Click to Enlarge Click to Enlarge Click to Enlarge Click to Enlarge Click to Enlarge Click to Enlarge Click to Enlarge Click to Enlarge Click to Enlarge