LOS ANGELES – Celgene Corp., a manufacturer of pharmaceuticals headquartered in Summit, New Jersey, has agreed to pay $280 million to settle fraud allegations related to the promotion of two cancer treatment drugs for uses not approved by the Food and Drug Administration, the Justice Department announced today.

Celgene agreed to pay the settlement to resolve a “whistleblower” lawsuit that alleged it had violated the federal False Claims Act by submitting false claims to Medicare. The lawsuit also alleged that Celgene violated the laws of 28 states and the District of Columbia by submitting fraudulent claims to state health care programs, including California’s Medi-Cal program.

Pursuant to the settlement, which was finalized last week, Celgene will pay $259.3 million to the United States and $20.7 million to the 28 states and the District of Columbia. California will receive $4.7 million, more than any other state.

The settlement resolves allegations brought in a “whistleblower” lawsuit that Celgene promoted two cancer drugs – Thalomid and Revlimid – for uses that were not approved by the FDA and not covered by federal health care programs. The allegations included the use of false and misleading statements about the drugs, and paying kickbacks to physicians to induce them to prescribe the drugs.

“Patients deserve to know their doctors are prescribing drugs that are likely to provide effective treatment, rather than drugs marketed aggressively by pharmaceutical companies,” said Acting United States Attorney Sandra R. Brown.

The whistleblower lawsuit was filed in United States District Court by Beverly Brown, who was employed as a sales manager by Celgene, under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act and similar laws of the District of Columbia and the 28 states included in the lawsuit. Under the False Claims Act, private citizens can bring suit on behalf of the United States and share in any recovery. The United States may intervene in the lawsuit, or, as in this case, the whistleblower may pursue the action.

“Today’s recovery again spotlights the importance of the False Claims Act in preserving precious government health plan resources,” said Christian J. Schrank, Special Agent in Charge for the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. “This invaluable law enlists all in the battle against fraudulent health care schemes.

The case, United States ex rel. Brown v. Celgene Corp., CV10-3165, was monitored by the United States Attorney’s Office, the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch, and HHS-OIG.

The claims settled by this agreement are allegations only, and the defendant did not admit liability in settling the action.