Fw: Fwd: [MSViews_Multiple_Sclerosis] Fw: [Net-Gold] Verdict Ordering Drug Maker To Pay Texas $170 Million In Damages For Fraud

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Something another MS group sent me...----- Forwarded Message ----To: rothschildkate@...Sent: Wed, February 2, 2011 9:41:39 AMSubject: Fwd: [MSViews_Multiple_Sclerosis] Fw: [Net-Gold] Verdict Ordering Drug Maker To Pay Texas $170 Million In Damages For FraudJust

FYI

I thought a few might find this interesting. Maker of Copaxone is on the list, Teva, they make many drugs though. Are you shocked?! LMAO. My drug co's would never rip me off. ----- Forwarded Message ----

Verdict Ordering Drug Maker To Pay Texas

$170 Million In Damages For Fraud

Attorney General of Texas Greg Abbott

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

http://www.oag.state.tx.us

CONTACT: Press Office at

Three-Week Trial Results in Jury Verdict Ordering

Drug Maker To Pay Texas

$170 Million In Damages For Fraud

Actavis Mid-Atlantic found liable in scheme

to inflate drug prices to

Medicaid program

AUSTIN – A County jury today

returned a record-setting verdict for

damages, finding that drug manufacturer

Actavis Mid-Atlantic, LLC

misrepresented its drug prices to the

taxpayer-funded Medicaid program.

The jurors determined that Actavis

and co-defendant Actavis , LLC

should pay Texas and the federal

government $170.3 million for defrauding

Medicaid.

Since 2000, the Texas Attorney General's

Civil Medicaid Fraud team has

investigated multiple pharmaceutical

manufacturers for their products

prices to the Medicaid program.

The State’s legal action against Actavis

is one of those drug-pricing cases.

Today’s verdict makes clear that the

Texas Attorney General’s Office will

hold Medicaid providers accountable

for defrauding the taxpayers. I am

grateful to the trial team for their

hard work on this complex case,

Attorney General Greg Abbott said.

“The verdict shows we will effectively

use the legal system to retrieve any

funds that pharmaceutical

manufacturers and other providers

improperly take from the Medicaid

program.

The jury determined that the defendants

owe $170 million because of

improper drug price reporting,

Attorney General Abbott added.

Considering the hundreds of millions

of dollars that are at stake, we

will continue to vigilantly pursue

providers that falsely report prices to

Medicaid and defraud the taxpayers.

The StateÂ’s legal action against

Actavis stems from a whistleblower

lawsuit that was filed under seal

by a small Florida-based pharmacy called

Ven-a-Care. The pharmacy owners

pursued their claim after discovering

Actavis reported artificially inflated

prices to Medicaid for its drugs.

Although the Attorney General's

Office has investigated multiple

fraudulent drug pricing cases and

successfully recovered hundreds of

millions of dollars through

pre-litigation settlements, the case

against Actavis is the first to go to

trial. Another manufacturer, Par

Pharmaceuticals Inc. of New Jersey,

is scheduled to face a separate state

court action in May.

In late December, Mylan Laboratories Inc.

agreed to pay damages totaling

$65 million to the State and the

U.S. government because it falsely

reported inflated drug prices to

the Medicaid program.

In order for pharmaceutical products to

be eligible for reimbursement from

Medicaid, Texas law requires that

manufacturers accurately report market

prices to the taxpayer-funded program.

The Medicaid program uses this drug

pricing information to determine the

rates at which pharmacies are

reimbursed for products.

Since 2000, the Office of the Attorney

General has aggressively pursued

Medicaid providers that reported false

information to state health

officials. Those legal actions

ultimately led to settlements and

recoveries from the following companies:

Dey Inc., June 2003, $18.5 million

Schering-Plough Corp.,

Warrick Pharmaceutical Corp., May 2004,

$27 million

Baxter Healthcare Corp.,

June 2006, $8.5 million

Roxane Laboratories Inc.,

Boehringer-Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals,

November 2005, $10 million

GlaxoKline, December 2007,

$1.3 million

Aventis, February 2008, $1.2 million

Bristol Myers Squibb, July 2008,

$37.4 million

Abbott Laboratories Inc., September 2008,

$28 million

Alpha Therapeutic, August 2009,

$1.2 million

B. Braun Medical Inc., December 2009,

$1.1 million

Teva Pharmaceuticals Inc., July 2010,

$51 million

Mylan Laboratories, December 2010,

$65 million

The following assistant attorneys

general for the Civil Medicaid Fraud

team participated in preparing this

case for trial:

Winter, Margaret ,

Mark Einfalt, Drew , Celeste Kemper,

Damon Ong, Matt and Diane s.

Support staff included Killion,

Rhonda and .