AUSTIN — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly for allegedly bribing medical providers to prescribe its most profitable drugs, including high-demand medications for weight loss and diabetes.
Paxton asserts Eli Lilly, in order to enhance profits, offered illegal incentives to medical providers in Texas, including “free nurses” and reimbursement support services. The inducements were allegedly designed to steer providers toward prescribing Eli Lilly’s drugs.
In many cases, the prescriptions were covered by Medicaid, resulting in millions of dollars in claims to Texas Medicaid that were tainted by Eli Lilly’s illegal marketing and quid pro quo arrangements, in violation of the Texas Health Care Program Fraud Prevention Act, according to the Office of the Attorney General.
“Big Pharma compromised medical decision-making by engaging in an illegal kickback scheme,” said Paxton. “Eli Lilly fraudulently sought to maximize profits at taxpayer expense and put corporate greed over people’s health. I will not stand by while corporations unlawfully manipulate our healthcare system to line their own pockets.”
The lawsuit claims that because many covered drugs compete in a marketplace saturated with medications, Lilly needed a compelling promotional strategy to support them.
“By inducing Providers to prescribe and/or continue to prescribe the Covered Drugs in violation of Texas law, Lilly committed, and continues to commit, a number of unlawful acts in violation of the THFPA,” the suit states.
“This case is not about whether the Covered Drugs are effective—it is about whether Lilly violated Texas law by providing remuneration or items of value to induce Providers to prescribe the Covered Drugs over other drugs on the market.
The lawsuit builds upon the attorney general’s previous legal action against Eli Lilly and other major pharmaceutical companies, which he says are meant to hold drug manufacturers accountable for fraud and abuse.
The case was filed in Harrison County District Court.
