Watertown Pharmaceutical Company to Pay Nearly $4.7 Million to Resolve False Claims Act Kickback Allegations

EyePoint, Inc., a Watertown, Massachusetts-based pharmaceutical company, has agreed to pay $4,678,981 to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act and the Anti-Kickback Statute by paying illegal kickbacks to ambulatory surgery centers. The settlement, announced by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, resolves claims that EyePoint engaged in a scheme to induce ASCs to purchase its drug, DEXYCU, through two unlawful practices between January 2019 and March 2023.

According to the government, EyePoint’s scheme operated through an “Assurance Program” in which the company covered ASCs’ costs when federal insurance programs denied coverage of the drug—either by paying cash or providing free replacement DEXYCU. Additionally, EyePoint provided thousands of free samples to ASCs, which the centers used on patients whose commercial health insurance would not pay for the drug. The government alleged that these no-cost samples induced ASCs to purchase and dispense DEXYCU reimbursed by Medicare, Medicaid, and TRICARE by eliminating the ASCs’ potential financial losses from commercial health insurers denying payment.

The case was brought under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act. The whistleblower who filed the lawsuit will receive $791,768.74 as their share of the recovery. In connection with the settlement, EyePoint entered into a five-year Corporate Integrity Agreement with the HHS Office of Inspector General and will pay an additional $25,478 to certain participating states. This case reflects the government’s sustained commitment to holding pharmaceutical manufacturers accountable for illegal kickbacks that corrupt medical decision-making and drive up costs for taxpayer-funded healthcare programs.