April 1, 2021

Pharma company Bristol-Myers Squibb will pay $75 million to settle a False Claims Act action, filed by a whistleblower, alleging that the company failed to pay amounts it owed under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program. That program, the MDRP, requires drug manufacturers to report the Average Manufacturer Prices (AMPs) of their Medicaid-covered drugs to the government; the higher the reported AMPs, the greater the rebate owed by the pharma company to the government.  The whistleblower alleged that Bristol-Myers systematically under-reported their AMPs for a number of its drugs, including by reducing service fees it paid to wholesalers and excluding the value of price appreciation provisions in wholesale contracts. Of the total settlement, $41 million will be paid to the federal government, and the remainder to states participating in the settlement.  The government did not intervene, and the action was pursued by the whistleblower, Ronald J. Streck, who will receive an undisclosed share of the settlement.  USAO EDPA

Tagged in: Drug and DME Pricing, FCA Federal, Healthcare Fraud, Medicaid, Pharma Fraud, Whistleblower Case, Whistleblower Rewards,