Top 3 Kickback Schemes Hiding in Plain Sight – 2025 Whistleblower Edition

Have you ever seen a doctor receiving a handsome payment to “consult” for a drug company, but no one’s really sure what they’re consulting on?
Have you been to a “conference” that was basically golf, wining and dining and sometimes even the rest of the rhyming  but zero education?
Have you noticed a clinic renting space to a lab at a strangely high rate?

If any of that sounds familiar, you might be looking at a kickback.

What is a Kickback?

A kickback is a bribe. It’s anything of value, cash, trips, perks, even a job offer, given to influence a referral or steer business. Under the False Claims Act and the Anti-Kickback Statute, kickback is not just unethical. It’s illegal.

Penalties for Kickbacks

• Civil fines
• Prison time
• Multi-million-dollar False Claims Act recoveries.

And it’s not just theoretical. These cases are blowing up right now in 2025.

Example of a Kickback

In 2022, Biogen paid $900 million to settle allegations that it ran a fake speaker program.

Doctors were paid thousands of dollars to “present” at so-called events. But according to whistleblowers, there were no audiences, no slides, no real purpose—just steak and sunsets in exchange for prescribing Biogen’s drugs. That’s known as a kickback.

And the whistleblower who came forward was eligible to receive a substantial False Claims Act reward up to $27 million. Using the False Claims Act the right way at the right time can be rewarding and put an end to the practice of kickbacks.

Take the Biogen whistleblower settlement for example. If there are multiple drugs that the doctor could prescribe, but he’s receiving a kickback for just one of them – do you think he’s prescribing the drug that’s best for you or best for him?  Even if he has some integrity and is doing what he thinks is best for you – there’s an appearance of impropriety so his medical judgment will always be second guessed and its bad. That’s why the federal government made it civilly and criminally illegal under the False Claims Act and Anti-kickback statute.

Top Three Kickback Schemes Still Thriving in 2025

If you recognize any of these, pay attention—because you may be sitting on a whistleblower case that could be worth tens of millions of dollars in whistleblower awards if you blow the whistle the right way.

Sham Consulting and Advisory Fees

This is the classic: a doctor, pharmacist, or some other decision-maker gets paid to “consult.”

On paper? It looks legitimate and sometimes they have a paper party to paper it up to make it look even more legit.

But in practice? They’re being paid to prescribe a drug, use a medical device, or refer patients – and that’s what their paid for – not the fake “consult”.

Here’s what this looked like in the real world:

Earlier this year, Pfizer paid nearly $60 million to resolve claims involving their acquisition, Biohaven, and its migraine drug Nurtec ODT. Sales reps were allegedly instructed to enroll high-prescribing doctors in a “thought leader” program—where they were paid to speak, attend dinners, or “consult.” But the DOJ says these programs had no legitimate educational value.

The real goal was simple: prescribe more product, get more perks. That’s a kickback. Plain and simple.

These are also known as
“illegal consulting fee arrangements in healthcare”
and later on I’ll tell you “how to report a drug company kickback scheme”

Lavish Trips and Gifts Disguised as Hospitality

Now let’s talk about perks. This one’s subtle—because who doesn’t like dinner?

But when that dinner turns into five-star hotel weekends, front-row sports tickets, or “conferences” that are mostly spa days?

That’s not hospitality. That’s a boondoggle bribe with  a delicious port  pairing.

Take Novartis. In 2020, they paid $678 million to settle allegations that they hosted thousands of bogus educational events—usually at restaurants, sometimes with no education at all. Just fine dining, cocktails, and “thank you” gifts for prescribing.

The Anti-Kickback Statute doesn’t care if you call it marketing, education, or appreciation. If it’s given in exchange for referrals, it’s a kickback.

Some people refer to these as
“physician speaker program fraud lawsuit” that’s a mouthful, but its just distills into a kickback scheme

Later we’ll also discuss
“how to report healthcare kickbacks anonymously”

Fake Rental or Business Deals with Secret Rebates

And finally—the most overlooked kickback scheme: the B2B disguise.

Here’s how it works:
A lab or supplier overpays to rent space from a doctor or even buys their practice well in excess of fair market value. Or they provide “rebates” for referrals. Or they sign a consulting deal with a hospital exec that mysteriously lines up with a big contract win.

It’s like a shark and sometimes you can’t see the fin circling  – it looks like business on the surface, but there’s  fraud underneath.

In 2025, several physicians and a lab in South Carolina paid nearly $2 million this type of kickback scheme. The lab was paying doctors through fake office rental agreements. The DOJ said these leases were just a front for getting Medicare and Medicaid patient referrals for expensive lab testing.

Look out for:

• Pricing way over market rate
• Rent or “consulting” that coincides with a spike in referrals
• Circular payments that go back to the same people

Why Kickbacks Matter

Because kickbacks distort medical judgment, waste taxpayer dollars, and in many cases, hurt patients.

And here’s the part you need to hear:

If you know about any of this happening inside your organization—you can report it under the False Claims Act and you may be eligible for a reward of 15 to 30 percent of the government’s recovery. You can potentially do so anonymously, but you should discuss the pros and cons of that route by consulting with one of the best whistleblower law firms.

Reporting kickbacks the right way that can mean millions of dollars in whistleblower rewards.
Kickbacks in 2025 aren’t always a briefcase full of cash.

They’re consulting contracts with no deliverables.
They’re golf trips with automatic holes in one dressed up as education.
They’re rental payments for really no rent.

But now—you know what to look for.

If you’ve seen any of this happening—or even suspect it might be—call us at the whistleblower law firm of Brown, LLC. You don’t have to decide today whether to file. But obtaining real legal advice now can protect you, your job, and maybe even lead to a whistleblower reward.