Caldwell
BATON ROUGE, La. (Legal Newsline) - Eight drug makers have settled fraud charges brought by Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell for a combined $38 million.
Caldwell announced the settlements Wednesday. He alleged the companies misreported average wholesale drug price information in order to increase reimbursements paid by Louisiana's Medicaid program.
Caldwell's original suit was filed in 2010 against 109 pharmaceutical companies. Many other state attorneys general have filed similar suits.
The largest of Caldwell's recent settlements is with Teva Pharmaceuticals and Barr Pharmaceutical, worth $20 million. Other settling companies include AstraZeneca ($10 million), Amgen ($2.5 million), Fougera ($2 million), Baxter ($1.25 million), Warner Chilcott ($1.05 million), Wockhardt ($1 million) and Cypress ($235,000).
"I will, as Attorney General, continue to aggressively pursue pharmaceutical companies who defraud our Medicaid program. We are sending a message to drug companies that their fraud will not be tolerated in Louisiana," Caldwell said.
In February, Caldwell announced $25.2 million in settlements from five drug companies. He called the recovery "just the tip of the iceberg."
The first trial against remaining defendants is scheduled to begin in August 2013 in the 19th Judicial District Court.
From Legal Newsline: Reach John O'Brien by e-mail at jobrienwv@gmail.com.