The Bigger They Come, the Softer They Fall - the Size of Pharma Companies and How Vigorously they are Prosecuted

After we found lessons to be learned from even  relatively small legal cases involving medical device companies, we reviewed some relatively small cases involving pharmaceutical companies made public in 2014.  Again, we had an index case that linked to larger issuesMerck Settled Fraud Allegations for $31 MillionThis case got very little coverage in October, 2014.  A very short story by Reuters included these essentials,A subsidiary of Merck & Co has agreed to pay U.S. states $31 million to settle claims that it overcharged their Medicaid programs for an antidepressant it had sold at a discount to pharmacy companies, attorney generals from three states said on Wednesday.The officials from Idaho, New York and Florida said Organon USA Inc offered the drug, Remeron, to nursing home pharmacies at a discount to encourage its use over competitors. At the same time, the company reported the full cost of the drug when seeking reimbursements from state Medicaid programs, the states claimed.New Jersey-based Organon, which did not admit any wrongdoing, also was accused of improperly promoting use of the drug by children and teens.The agreement, which includes Washington, D.C., and every state besides Arizona, settled whistleblower lawsuits filed in 2007 in federal courts in Massachusetts and Texas.That was the main content of the article.Kickbacks to Promote Use of a Dangerous Drug However, on the PharmaLot blog, Ed Silverman added important nuance,Organon also allege...
Source: Health Care Renewal - Category: Health Management Tags: adverse effects deception Eli Lilly fraud impunity kickbacks legal settlements Merck Takeda Teva US Department of Justice Source Type: blogs