NEW YORK, June 9 (Reuters) - The U.S. government has joined
a whistleblower lawsuit accusing the Salix unit of Valeant
Pharmaceuticals International Inc VRX.TO of paying illegal
kickbacks to doctors to induce them to prescribe its products,
and submitting false claims for the products to Medicaid and
Medicare.
According to a filing made public on Thursday in the U.S.
District Court in Manhattan, the alleged improper conduct
occurred from January 2009 to December 2013, predating Valeant's
purchase of Salix last year.