WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) – Genentech Inc. and OSI Pharmaceuticals LLC agreed to pay a total of $67 million to federal and state Medicaid programs, including $131,942.10 to Arkansas, after allegations of making misleading representations about its products, Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge announced.
Arkansas joined 49 other states and the District of Columbia in the lawsuit. According to the plaintiffs, the two companies made misleading representations about the effectiveness of its drug Tarceva to physicians and other health care providers. Tarceva treats non-small cell lung cancer. The plaintiffs argued that because of these misrepresentations, false or fraudulent claims were submitted to Medicaid.
“This type of fraud from large corporations harms those in need and steals money from important programs,” Rutledge said. “Arkansas’ health care providers should make decisions on medical devices based strictly on need, cost and value and not based on kickbacks.”
The case came after a qui tam action filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. A team from the National Association of Medicaid Fraud Control Units negotiated the settlement.