Pharmaceutical Kickbacks

Right now the pharmaceutical industry is in the middle of its biggest challenge in history. Whistleblowers have exposed and continue to expose fraudulent practices ranging from pricing issues to sales and marketing practices at a rate never anticipated by either the pharmaceutical industry or the Department of Justice. Settlements and jury verdicts have been headline grabbing and large, attracting the attention of pharma, regulators, Congress and taxpayers. The qui tam pharmaceutical fraud cases settled since 2000 alone have amounted to over 3.5 billion dollars, representing various patterns of fraud. We expect to see some new patterns as time goes by, especially with the new Medicare prescription drug benefit. Pharmaceutical fraud is still abundant and this blog is intended to keep readers up to date with all pharmaceutical fraud related news and to provide commentary when warranted. This blog also contains an array of laws and regulations concerning the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act set out in an easy to read format.

A Common Industry Practice: False Average Wholesale Price (AWP)?

by Nolan and Auerbach on August 11, 2006

GlaxoSmithKline agreed to pay $70 million to settle state Medicaid claims involving Zofran and Kytril, drugs used for the treatment of cancer.  In what a Glaxo spokesperson claimed was a common practice, the allegations included claims that the prices set for these drugs were based on fraudulent inflated figures provided by Glaxo, resulting in increased reimbursement from government programs.

For more information, click here.

Leave a Comment