Chicago – Attorney General Kwame Raoul, as part of a bipartisan coalition of 49 attorneys general, announced a $202 million multistate settlement agreement with Gilead Sciences Inc. (Gilead), for running an illegal kickback scheme to promote its HIV medications. Gilead violated federal law by illegally providing incentives to health care providers to prescribe Gilead’s medications, resulting in millions of dollars of false claims submitted to government health care programs.
The settlement in principle, reached in coordination with the U.S. Department of Justice and approved by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, provides $49 million for Medicaid programs nationwide, including more than $925,000 for Illinois. The remainder of the funds will go to Medicare, Tricare and the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP).
“Illegal incentives, including awards, meals and travel expenses, given to providers for prescribing Gilead’s medications reduced competition and led to increased costs for taxpayers,” Raoul said. “I’m pleased to join my colleagues in securing this settlement, and I will continue to hold pharmaceutical companies accountable when they break the law.”
From January 2011 to November 2017, Gilead violated federal anti-kickback laws by providing gifts to health care providers who attended and spoke at promotional speaker programs for Gilead’s HIV drugs: Stribild, Genvoya, Complera, Odefsey, Descovy and Biktarvy. Gilead paid high-volume prescribers thousands of dollars to present as “HIV Speakers.” The company also covered travel expenses for speakers and hosted dinners at high-end restaurants.
Gilead maintained policies and procedures that failed to prevent its sales representatives from improperly offering incentives to induce prescriptions. Gilead’s internal compliance mechanisms also failed to halt these violations.
A National Association of Medicaid Fraud Control Units (NAMFCU) team participated in the investigation and conducted the settlement negotiations with Gilead on behalf of the states. The team included representatives from the offices of the California, Indiana, New York, North Carolina and Virginia attorneys general.
Joining Attorney General Raoul in the settlement with Gilead are the attorneys general of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
In 2023, the Attorney General’s office assumed responsibility for the state’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU). The MFCU handles complex actions, rooting out fraud and recovering taxpayer dollars that have been fraudulently taken from Illinois’ Medicaid program. Raoul’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) receives 75% of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a grant award totaling $11,309,840 for the federal government’s 2025 fiscal year. The remaining 25%, totaling $3,769,945 for the federal government’s 2025 fiscal year, is funded by the state of Illinois.
