Gilead Sciences will pay $202 million to resolve allegations of illegal kickbacks related to its HIV medications, following a multistate investigation joined by Connecticut Attorney General William Tong. Connecticut’s share of the settlement includes $582,125 for its Medicaid program.

From 2011 to 2017, Gilead allegedly violated federal anti-kickback laws by giving financial incentives—such as awards, lavish meals, travel, and speaking fees—to healthcare providers to promote its HIV drugs, including Stribild, Genvoya, Complera, Odefsey, Descovy, and Biktarvy. These payments led to millions in false claims submitted to Medicaid, Medicare, Tricare, and the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP).

“Gilead lavished high-volume prescribers with gifts, lucrative speaker fees and travel expenses, in clear violation of federal anti-kickback laws. These types of illegal payments undermine public faith in our healthcare institutions. In coordination with our partners across state and federal law enforcement, we will continue to aggressively protect against abuse of our taxpayer funded healthcare programs,” said Attorney General Tong.

The U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York coordinated the settlement, which includes $49 million specifically for Medicaid programs across the country.  The case highlighted failures in Gilead’s compliance systems, allowing improper inducements to continue unchecked. Connecticut joined 48 other states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands in securing the settlement.