Conway
FRANKFORT, Ky. (Legal Newsline) - Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway recovered $2.29 million for the Kentucky Medicaid program on Tuesday following a settlement over the average wholesale price of pharmaceuticals.
The lawsuit against Aventis Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Aventis Behring LLC, also known as ZLB Behring Inc., alleged that the companies published false, inflated and deceptive average wholesale prices for their drugs that did not bear any relationship to the actual prices charged.
"Because the Kentucky Medicaid program relied on published AWPs to calculate Medicaid drug reimbursement rates, it paid millions of dollars more for the defendants' drugs," Conway said. "I am pleased that we've been able to recover this money for this vital state program and for Kentucky taxpayers."
The defendants, which are now owned by Sanofi-Aventis U.S. LLC, manufacture the popular Allegra and Nasacort drugs for allergic rhinitis and the asthma drugs Azmacort and Slobid.
The settlement is one of 17 reached between Conway's office and pharmaceutical companies over inflated average wholesale prices. Conway also won three favorable average wholesale price cases against AstraZeneca, Sandoz and GSK. AstraZeneca and Sandoz appealed their verdicts. Those cases argued in April and are pending before the court of appeals. GSK settled its case for $3.75 million.