How a “Medical Education” Program Became a $202M Fraud

We unpack the $202 million storm surrounding Gilead’s so-called “educational” speaker programs — and why it should make every medical affairs, legal, marketing, and compliance professional sit up straight.Here’s what happened: The DOJ alleged that Gilead turned 17,000 speaker programs into a covert marketing machine to boost HIV drug prescriptions. We’re not talking about the occasional misstep — we’re talking wine-paired steak dinners at the James Beard House, prescribers being paid over $300,000 in honoraria, and attendees showing up to the same slide deck as many as 75 times.The DOJ didn’t just scrutinize sales teams — they dug into how speakers were selected, how events were structured, who was invited, and how the money flowed. Internal emails revealed that many of these speakers weren’t chosen for their expertise, but for their prescription power — flagged as “must-win” accounts.If you’re defending your program by saying, “But it’s educational,” this episode is your wake-up call. The DOJ doesn’t care about the label. They care about intent, patterns, and whether your slide decks are being used to deliver education — or scripts.We go deep on how these programs can quietly cross legal lines, how even well-meaning compliance teams can fail when oversight becomes performative, and what questions you should be asking right now. Because if your MSLs choose the speakers, your marketing team builds the decks, and your compliance team just rubber-stamps — your program might already be under the microscope.Listen in to learn how to audit your current speaker programs, spot early red flags, and protect your company — and your career — before regulators come knocking.Support the show

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