Sun Pharma carried out off-label promotions of 3 drugs-Ilumya, Yonsa, Absorica, alleges former employee

New Delhi: In a major setback to the country's largest drugmaker Sun Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (Sun Pharma), the firm has been accused of allegedly carrying out off-label promotions of 3 drugs-Ilumya, Yonsa and Absorica, which was prohibited by federal laws, a recent media report in Economic Times has stated.

The accusation came from Sun Pharma's former employee, who alleged the aforesaid and sued the drugmaker for violating the US False Claims Act and discrimination at a workplace. The employee is identified as Sandra Hagenbrock, who was national account director at Sun Pharma in the US for three long years from February 2016 to July 2019.

In her complaints, she alleged that the firm's illegal scheme of promoting its drugs for uses without the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) approval was objected by her. However, she claimed that she was allegedly disciplined and retaliated against.

The PIL filed by her as quoted by ET reads, "Plaintiff (the Sun former employee) alleges that defendant's (Sun Pharma) scheme caused false claims to be submitted to the government and further believes that the government paid those false claims, plaintiff does not have sufficient detail to support that allegation at this time."

The petition indeed adds to the list of legal battles Sun Pharma is already dealing with, as earlier this year, the pharma firm was pulled among 40 others drugmakers as 40 US states had filed legal proceedings against these pharma majors.

The fresh allegations by its former employee do not end here, as she goes on adding that she faced discriminating against her while working with the company and was never promoted to the posts she had applied for, rather younger and underqualified candidates were promoted the same positions she had applied for.

Furthermore, she alleged that the firm conspired to create unlawful incentives in exchange for patient referrals and using false records and statements to get claims paid by the US government, reports ET.