The state of Vermont will receive $79,878 as part of a national civil settlement with Shire Pharmaceuticals LLC to resolve complaints of alleged unlawful marketing of five drugs, Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell's office announced on Tuesday.
The settlement resulted from two lawsuits originally filed by whistleblowers in Pennsylvania and Illinois under the federal False Claims Act and various state false claims statutes.
The complaints allege that Shire Pharmaceuticals unlawfully marketed five drugs: Adderall XR, Vyvance, Daytrana, Lialda and Pentasa. These actions allegedly resulted in overpayments by government health programs including Vermont Medicaid.
The company allegedly promoted Adderall XR as superior to other drugs although it didn’t have clinical data to back up the claim, said that Vyvanse was less prone to abuse than drugs such as Adderall XR and claimed the Daytrana patch was less abuseable than pill-form drugs. The company also allegedly said that Lialda could be used to prevent colorectal cancer and that Pentasa could be used to treat Crohn’s Disease and indeterminate colitis, uses that are not FDA-approved.
As part of the settlement, Shire has signed a Corporate Integrity Agreement with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the company’s marketing and sales practices will be monitored.