19 Additional States Have Now Chosen to Join in the Prosecution of Whisteblower Lawsuit against Wyeth

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7/16/10

On July 15, the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts granted motions allowing 19 additional states to join in the prosecution of this whistleblower lawsuit against pharmaceutical company Wyeth, Inc. (now known as Pfizer) that was filed by Berger & Montague, P.C. on behalf of a pharmaceutical industry insider. This brings the total number of states that have chosen to prosecute this lawsuit together with the federal government to 35.

The whistleblower’s lawsuit, which was originally filed under seal in 2003, was brought pursuant to the federal False Claims Act which allows a private citizen with knowledge of fraud to bring a case on behalf of the government against a company cheating the government.  The law encourages private individuals to help the government fight fraud and recover taxpayer money.

The case alleges that Wyeth knowingly failed to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in rebates to Medicaid (which provides prescription drug coverage to the nation’s poor and disabled) on sales of its drugs Protonix Oral and Protonix IV.  Under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program, drug companies must give the government the benefit of the lowest, or “Best Price,” offered for their drugs.  This is accomplished through the payment of periodic rebates by the drug company to Medicaid, calculated on the basis of discounts offered to purchasers such as wholesalers, retailers and health maintenance organizations.  One category of purchaser which is included for purposes of determining Best Price is hospitals.  Between 2001 and 2006, Wyeth offered steep discounts on Protonix Oral and Protonix IV to thousands of hospitals nationwide, but did not pass along these discounts to Medicaid.  As a result, Wyeth underpaid Medicaid by hundreds of millions of dollars.

On February 24, 2010, Judge Douglas P. Woodlock denied the motion to dismiss filed by Wyeth.  The case is now in discovery.

The 19 additional states that sought and received permission to join in the prosecution of the suit include Colorado, Connecticut, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Washington and Wyoming. With the addition of these states to the 16 states that joined in prosecuting the case earlier, which include California, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia, a total of 35 states have now joined the United States and intervened in this whistleblower lawsuit filed by Berger & Montague.

The United States and 35 states have also intervened in a second whistleblower suit filed in the District of Massachusetts against Wyeth alleging similar claims.

If you would like to learn more about Berger & Montague’s Whistleblower / Qui Tam Group, click 

here.

News Source : 19 Additional States Have Now Chosen to Join in the Prosecution of Whisteblower Lawsuit against Wyeth