In recent news, the Wall Street Journal published an article concerning pharmaceutical companies advertising drugs for off-label uses, in addition to paying doctors to prescribe their manufactured drug over another manufacturers drug.

On September 30, 2010, the Justice Department announced that it had reached a $422.5 million agreement with the U.S. subsidiary of Novartis AG to resolve criminal and civil charges that it illegally marketed the epilepsy drug Trileptal and paid kickbacks to doctors.

 Novartis has plead guilty to all criminal charges, but maintains its innocence in regards to the kickback allegations. According to the Wall Street Journal article, "prosecutors alleged Novartis was disappointed in the early sales of Trileptal when it launched in 2000, so the company decided to promote the drug for unapproved uses such as the treatment of nerve pain and bipolar disease. The drug maker trained, managed, and rewarded its sales staff for those off-label promotional efforts, which continued until at least June 2004." In a statement, Andy Wyss, head of Novartis Pharma North America and president of Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp., stated that "NPC will continue its commitment to high standards of ethical business conduct and regulatory compliance in the sale and marketing of our products."