In this article, Kathryn Cameron Atkinson and David Resnicoff* discuss how companies in the healthcare industry can build effective anti-corruption compliance programs. The healthcare industry has been in the anti-corruption spotlight for a full decade. Since 2002, at least 37 companies in the healthcare industry have announced investigations, voluntary or otherwise, of potential corrupt payments outside the United States. In that time, 14 healthcare-related companies have settled enforcement actions relating to payments in roughly 20 countries across all of the major continents, with additional countries represented in ongoing investigations. Pursuant to the settlements, eight companies have been required to retain independent monitors to evaluate the companies’ compliance programs and report periodically to the DOJ and the SEC. In the meantime, the Dodd-Frank whistleblower provisions entered into force, increasing the likelihood that companies will find themselves answering questions from the enforcement agencies about their program. All this means that it is critical for companies to examine the overall effectiveness of their anti-corruption compliance programs and to implement improvements where appropriate.

*Former Miller & Chevalier attorney