Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell has filed a state lawsuit accusing 18 drugmakers of overcharging the state Medicaid program, according to a report by the Times-Picayune.
The lawsuit alleged the state was billed a fraudulent average wholesale price that frequently exceeded the true price by as much as 6,000 percent. It asserted the defendants reported one set of prices to Louisiana Medicaid, then used undisclosed discounts, rebates and other inducements for non-government customers.
The lawsuit suggested the inflationary pricing date backs to 1991 but did not specify the state's losses. The defendants include Abbott Laboratories, Baxter Healthcare, Covidien, Lupin Pharmaceuticals, Tap Pharmaceutical Products, Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals, Mallinckrodt Brand Pharmaceuticals and Watson Pharma.
The federal government and 27 other states have also brought lawsuits against drugmakers dealing with the same general problem, amounting to multiple-million-dollar verdicts and settlements so far.
Read the Times-Picayune report on pharmaceuticals.
Read more coverage on healthcare fraud:
- Eight Drugmakers Pay $4.3M for Overcharges to Iowa Medicaid Program
- Justice Department Recovers $2.4B in False Claims Recoveries, $1.6B in Healthcare Fraud Recoveries During FY2009
- 10 of the Largest Fraud & Abuse, Stark Act and Anti-Kickback Violation Settlements in 2010
The lawsuit alleged the state was billed a fraudulent average wholesale price that frequently exceeded the true price by as much as 6,000 percent. It asserted the defendants reported one set of prices to Louisiana Medicaid, then used undisclosed discounts, rebates and other inducements for non-government customers.
The lawsuit suggested the inflationary pricing date backs to 1991 but did not specify the state's losses. The defendants include Abbott Laboratories, Baxter Healthcare, Covidien, Lupin Pharmaceuticals, Tap Pharmaceutical Products, Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals, Mallinckrodt Brand Pharmaceuticals and Watson Pharma.
The federal government and 27 other states have also brought lawsuits against drugmakers dealing with the same general problem, amounting to multiple-million-dollar verdicts and settlements so far.
Read the Times-Picayune report on pharmaceuticals.
Read more coverage on healthcare fraud:
- Eight Drugmakers Pay $4.3M for Overcharges to Iowa Medicaid Program
- Justice Department Recovers $2.4B in False Claims Recoveries, $1.6B in Healthcare Fraud Recoveries During FY2009
- 10 of the Largest Fraud & Abuse, Stark Act and Anti-Kickback Violation Settlements in 2010