Anti-Kickback Penalties Only 2.2% of Drug Revenue, Study Finds; Pfizer Discloses Q2 2026 Lobbying
A study in JAMA Open finds that anti-kickback penalties paid by pharma companies amounted to just 2.2% of U.S. revenue from involved drugs. Pfizer recently disclosed $60,000 in lobbying on drug pricing and vaccine issues. Researchers say settlements act as a cost of doing business.
Pharmaceutical companies penalized for kickback violations paid only 2.2% of the U.S. revenue generated from selling the implicated drugs during the years of alleged misconduct, according to a new research letter published in JAMA Open. The findings suggest that anti-kickback settlements may be economically tolerable for drug manufacturers and function as a cost of doing business.
The cross-sectional study examined 64 cases of alleged Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) violations between January 1, 2000, and June 1, 2025. All cases were resolved through negotiated settlements, with no judicial judgments of liability. Of the total, 53 cases (82.8%) ended in a civil settlement, nine (14.1%) involved both criminal and civil settlements, and two (3.1%) were resolved with only a criminal settlement. Corporate integrity agreements were part of 30 settlements (46.9%).
Many major pharmaceutical companies have settled AKS cases, including Pfizer, GSK, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Purdue, and AstraZeneca. Novartis was implicated in the most cases, with four settlements, and ten other companies had multiple settlements during the study period.
Separately, a recent Lobbying Disclosure Act filing shows that Pfizer disclosed $60,000 in lobbying expenditures for the second quarter of 2026. The lobbying activity addressed issues including drug development and pricing, vaccine safety and access, the 340B drug pricing program, pharmacy benefit managers, the Safe Step Act (H.R. 5509), direct-to-patient prescription drug purchase platforms, and Most Favored Nation drug pricing.