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Drug and DME Pricing

This archive displays posts tagged as relevant to drug and durable medical equipment pricing. You may also be interested in our pages:

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December 12, 2022

Medical device manufacturer Coloplast will pay $14.5 million to resolve claims that in its contracts with the Department of Veteran’s Affairs the company overcharged the government and submitted false claims.  Coloplast self-disclosed to the government that in violation of the Trade Agreements Act it misreported country of origin and sold products from non-designated countries, and, in violation of applicable Price Reduction Clauses, failed to provide the government with required discounts.  USAO DC

December 6, 2022

Centene will pay $17 million to the State of Oregon to resolve an investigation that the company, which served as a pharmacy benefit manager for the state’s Medicaid program, failed to provide certain pharmacy discounts in Oregon, resulting in inflated fees paid to Centene.  OR

August 24, 2022

Centene will pay Washington State $19 million to resolve allegations that the company overcharged the state for pharmacy benefit management services.  The state alleged that Centene failed to pass on discounts it received to the state Medicaid program, and inflated dispensing fees.  WA

June 13, 2022

Centene Corporation has agreed to pay $13.7 million to the State of New Mexico, after an investigation by the Attorney General’s Office found the company layered fees and failed to pass discounts onto the state’s Medicaid program, in violation of Medicaid rules and the New Mexico Medicaid False Claims Act.  NM AG

June 8, 2022

Pharmaceutical manufacturer Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories (DRL) has agreed to pay $12.9 million to the State of Texas to resolve allegations of violating the Texas Medicaid Fraud Prevention Act.  DRL had allegedly reported inflated drug prices to the Texas Medicaid program in order to receive higher reimbursements.  TX AG

Gordon Schnell and Max Voldman Published in Newsweek on How Whistleblowers are Key to Reining in Prescription Drug Costs

Posted  04/21/22
Newsweek published an OpEd by Constantine Cannon whistleblower lawyers Gordon Schnell and Max Voldman on the need to expand the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program to Medicare.  The piece was prompted by DOJ's recent $235 million settlement with U.K. and St. Louis-based pharma company Mallinckrodt for allegedly violating the Medicaid rebate rule. On the books since 1990, the rule requires drug companies to rebate state...

March 7, 2022

Pharmaceutical company Mallinckrodt ARD LLC will pay $260 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act in the sale and marketing of its drug H.P. Acthar Gel.  The government intervened in whistleblower actions alleging that Mallinckrodt and its predecessor Questcor Pharmaceuticals Inc. knowingly underpaid state Medicaid programs by improperly calculating amounts it owed under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program, and unlawfully used a foundation as a conduit to subsidize co-payments.  With respect to the Medicaid rebate claims, which represent $234.7 million of the settlement, defendants were alleged to have calculated rebate amounts as if Acthar was a “new drug” first marketed in 2013, rather than a drug that had been approved since 1952.  By using 2013 for Acthar’s Base Date Average Manufacturer Price (AMP), the company ignored price increases prior to 2013 and fraudulently reduced Acthar drug rebates.  With respect to the copayment fraud claims, which represent $26.3 million of the settlement, defendants were alleged to have violated the Anti-Kickback Statute by subsidizing copayments through payments to three funds that Mallinckrodt had a foundation set up to induce Medicare-reimbursed purchases of Acthar, using the subsidies to counteract doctor and patient concerns about the drug’s high cost.  The whistleblower in the Medicaid rebate case, James Landolt will receive an award of $24.7 million, representing 20% of the $123.6 million federal share of that settlement; the relator’s share for the state share of the settlement was not announced.  The whistleblowers in the copayment case, Charles Strunck and Lisa Pratta, will receive an award of $4.9 million, representing 19% of that settlement.  The settlement includes a five-year corporate integrity agreement (CIA) with monitoring provisions.  DOJ; USAO MA; USAO EDPA

December 8, 2021

Pharmacist Riad “Ray” Zahr and two pharmacies he owned and operated, Plymouth Towne Care Pharmacy Inc. and Shaska Pharmacy LLC will pay $1 million to resolve a lawsuit initiated by a whistleblower alleging that the pharmacies submitted false claims for Evzio, a naloxone hydrochloride product used for the rapid reversal of an opioid overdose.  The government alleged that the claims included false and misleading prior authorization requests, including forged physician authorizations.  In addition, defendants dispensed Evzio without collecting or attempting to collect co-payments. DOJ; USAO MA

December 7, 2021

Vyera Pharmaceuticals, LLC and its parent company Phoenixus AG will pay up to $40 million and have agreed to make its drug Daraprim available to any potential generic competitor at list price to resolve claims of anticompetitive conduct.  The federal government and state governments alleged that Vyera principals Martin Shkreli and Kevin Mulleady enacted a plan to acquire life-saving toxoplasmosis drug, Daraprim, and dramatically raise its list price by 400% while engaging in conduct to prevent generic competition and protect their monopolistic pricing.  The resolution also bars Mulleady from working in the pharmaceutical industry for seven years; claims against Shkreli are continuing.  FTC; CA; NY; NC; VA
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