Drug Company Deceived Doctors About Suboxone Dangers: Prosecutors

U.S. prosecutors say the drug company Indivior misled doctors and government health programs about the safety of its addiction medication Suboxone. The company said the drug was safer and less likely to be abused than other medication-assisted treatment, Bloomberg reports.

In a news release, the Justice Department said, “According to the indictment, Indivior obtained billions of dollars in revenue from Suboxone Film prescriptions by deceiving health care providers and health care benefit programs into believing that Suboxone Film was safer, less divertible, and less abusable than other opioid-addiction treatment drugs.”

The indictment states that the company also is alleged to have sought to increase profits by using a “Here to Help” program, which connected patients addicted to opioids with doctors the company knew were prescribing opioids at high rates and in a clinically unwarranted manner.