In the second-largest payment ever by a drug company, Abbott Laboratories agreed Monday to pay $1.5 billion and enter a guilty plea in federal district court in Virginia for unlawfully marketing one of its medications to seniors for off-label uses.
The settlement, announced in a Justice Department statement today, is still pending approval by the court. The settlement provides for a criminal fine and forfeiture of $700 million, and civil settlements of $800 million, to be split between the federal government and states that choose to participate in the agreement.
