Two Dozen Drugmakers Pay $88M To Louisiana Over Inflated Prices

Ending three years of litigation, the Louisiana attorney general has reached an $88.4 million settlement with 25 drugmakers that were accused of filing misleading prices in an effort to increase the payments they received from the state Medicaid program.  The state had alleged that some average wholesale prices were more than 5,000 percent higher than the true cost of a medicine (here is the lawsuit) The agreement marks the final step that began with a lawsuit against more than 100 drugmakers and their subsidiaries three years ago over average wholesale pricing, which has spawned numerous investigations and lawsuits by various states against the pharmaceutical industry over the past decade. In all, Louisiana has now reached settlements totaling $238.1 million since initiating the litigation. “These companies took advantage of the state and its taxpayers by fraudulently over-pricing and marketing prescription drugs, thereby forcing the state’s Medicaid program to grossly over-pay for those prescriptions,” says Louisiana attorney general Buddy Caldwell in a statement. “This kind of success sends a clear message to companies who don’t do business honestly.” Among the drugmakers that agreed to settle the claims are Abbott Laboratories (ABT), which will pay $6.2 million; Sanofi (SNY), which will pay $7 million; Novartis (NVS) and its Sandoz unit, which will pay a combined $20 million; Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), which will pay $10 million; Par Pharmaceutical, which w...
Source: Pharmalot - Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Source Type: blogs