LAWSUITS NEWS & LEGAL INFORMATION
Drug Pricing
Washington, DC: (Feb-07-08) The US Justice Department brought charges against pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co., alleging that the company engaged in fraudulent drug pricing and improper kickbacks. The suit was filed following a whistleblower complaint brought by former Merck employee, H. Dean Steinke, who claimed that the pharmaceutical firm violated the Medicaid Rebate Statute in connection with its marketing of Zocor and Vioxx.
Zocor is a cholesterol-lowering drug, and Vioxx was used to treat acute pain and in the treatment of arthritis and was withdrawn from the market by Merck in September 2004. Steinke claimed in his lawsuit that Merck offered deep discounts for the two drugs if hospitals used large quantities of the drugs instead of rival treatments produced by Merck's competitors. US regulators stated that the Medicaid Statute requires drug manufacturers to report their "best prices" and other pricing information to the government in order to ensure that Medicaid, a government health care scheme, benefits from the same discounts and pricing enjoyed by other drug purchasers.
The government accused Merck of not fully revealing discounted prices it had offered to hospitals to boost its sales. Sources close to the case stated that as part of a settlement reached, the parties agreed to resolve litigation when Merck & Co. agreed to pay over $650 million to settle allegations. [NEW JERSEY BUSINESS NEWS: MERCK PRICING]
Published on Feb-8-08
Zocor is a cholesterol-lowering drug, and Vioxx was used to treat acute pain and in the treatment of arthritis and was withdrawn from the market by Merck in September 2004. Steinke claimed in his lawsuit that Merck offered deep discounts for the two drugs if hospitals used large quantities of the drugs instead of rival treatments produced by Merck's competitors. US regulators stated that the Medicaid Statute requires drug manufacturers to report their "best prices" and other pricing information to the government in order to ensure that Medicaid, a government health care scheme, benefits from the same discounts and pricing enjoyed by other drug purchasers.
The government accused Merck of not fully revealing discounted prices it had offered to hospitals to boost its sales. Sources close to the case stated that as part of a settlement reached, the parties agreed to resolve litigation when Merck & Co. agreed to pay over $650 million to settle allegations. [
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