The US Justice Department announced on Monday that it would work alongside 16 states in two whistleblower lawsuits against Madison, N.J.-based drugmaker Wyeth.
Filed in federal court in Massachusetts, the lawsuits claim that Wyeth charged too much for Protonix, a stomach acid-suppressing drug, which resulted in millions of dollars being siphoned from state Medicaid programs.
The Justice Department is seeking payment from Wyeth, which allegedly failed to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in rebates to state Medicaid programs.
Manufacturers of brand-name drugs are required by law to allow for the same rebates to Medicaid programs as they provide to customers.
“Our complaint charges that Wyeth created the Protonix bundle so they could increase their market share at the expense of the Medicaid program — a program to provide the least advantaged Americans with necessary medical care and services,” Assistant Attorney General Tony West said in a statement.
“By offering massive discounts to hospitals, but then hiding that information from the Medicaid program, we believe Wyeth caused Medicaid programs throughout the country to pay much more for these drugs than they should have,” he added.
Wyeth announced it intends to defend itself in order to show no wrongdoing on its part.
“The company believes that its pricing calculations were correct and intends to defend itself vigorously in these actions,” said Doug Petkus, a Wyeth spokesman.
Other states involved in the lawsuit include California, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New York, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin.
“The best price reporting requirement is designed to assure that the nation’s healthcare programs for the poor – the Medicaid programs – are treated equally with drug companies’ best commercial customers,” Michael Loucks, acting U.S. attorney for the District of Massachusetts, said in a statement.
According to the Associated Press, Wyeth is currently in talks with Pfizer Inc to acquire the drug company for more than $60 billion later this year.
—
On the Net:
Comments