Kentucky Gets $10.2 Million Settlement with Alpharma USPD
In the past few years, Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway and his office have managed to collect over $175 million for the state’s Medicaid program from judgments and settlements involving pharmaceutical companies. Recently, Conway’s office settled with two drug manufacturers for $10.2 million.
Bloomberg Businessweek reported in Kentucky gets $10.2 million in drug settlement, that Alpharma USPD and Purepac Pharmaceutical Co., two pharmaceutical manufacturers, had agreed to pay the Kentucky Medicaid program the funds to settle allegations they had inflated average wholesale prices (AWPs) for their drugs.
Medicaid relies on the average wholesale prices to calculate reimbursement rates. Obviously, the higher the average wholesale price, the more the reimbursement to the drug companies. Alpharma and Purepac had allegedly published the AWPs for drugs that had little relation to the actual price. In some cases, that created a spread between the inflated prices and the real prices by as much as 3,200 percent.
The companies would use the spreads as a sales tool to market the drugs, which would inevitably lead to greater market share in the drug industry and significantly increase its profits.
Alpharma and Purepac are both owned by Actavis, an Iceland-based pharmaceutical giant, which purchased the companies in 2005.
According to Lex18.com, in Attorney General Conway Announces $10 million Settlement With Pharmaceutical Manufacturers, the attorney general and his Office of Medicaid Fraud and Abuse have brought 46 lawsuits against major pharmaceutical companies and individual providers since he took office in 2008.
Information in this post gathered in association with a Los Angeles trademark lawyer
AstraZeneca $68.5M Settlement Due to Improper Marketing
In the largest multi-state consumer protection-based pharmaceutical marketing settlement in history, pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP has agreed to pay New York, 36 other states and the District of Columbia $68.5 million.
Business Review’s Rodney Brown reported that AstraZeneca, a British-based company that had about $32.8 billion in sales in 2009, had agreed in 2010 to pay $198 million to settle thousands of individual and group claims in the U.S. over allegations that its antipsychotic drug Seroquel caused diabetes and other injuries.
The multi-state litigation claimed that AstraZeneca unlawfully marketed Seroquel to children and the elderly for depression, Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, anxiety, depression, sleep disorders and post-traumatic stress disorders.
The Food and Drug Administration, which tests and approves drugs before they can be marketed and sold, did not approve the drug for these classes of patients or for these particular conditions.
AstraZeneca was also accused of failing to adequately disclose Seroquel’s potential side effects and withholding information about the drug’s safety and efficacy. The company now includes the following information:
Elderly patients with dementia who are treated with antipsychotic drugs (Seroquel) are at an increased risk of death.
The use of Seroquel or other antidepressants increases the risk of suicide in children, adolescents and adults under age 24, according to short-term studies. The drug is currently approved for schizophrenia, including pediatric schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder.
Personal injury attorneys in Nassau County of Mavrides, Moyal & Associates, LLP have contributed resources for the development of this content.
Minnesota Man Awarded $1.1 Million in Levaquin Lawsuit
A jury in Minnesota has awarded 82-year-old John Schedin $1.1 million in punitive damages and $700,000 in compensatory damages. The verdict supports the claim in Schedin's lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson that the pharmaceutical company failed to properly warn him of the drug Levaquin’s side effects. This is the first of an estimated 2,600 Levaquin lawsuits.
The federal jury found that Johnson & Johnson, the makers of Levaquin, failed to properly warn doctors and consumers of the risks associated with the drug. Levaquin has been used to treat bacterial infections.
Mr. Schedin’s Levaquin lawsuit claimed he ruptured both his Achilles’ tendons as a result of taking the prescribed drug to treat bronchitis in 2005. Johnson & Johnson, the lawsuit claimed, had downplayed the risks, even though they had received reports of tendon damage dating back to 2001. Patients who took Levaquin and similar drugs have had tendon injuries to their hands, elbows, shoulders and knees.
Since 2008, the FDA has required black box warnings about the risk of tendon injury for Johnson & Johnson and makers of similar drugs. The elderly and those taking corticosteroids are thought to be at higher risk for tendinitis and ruptured tendons.
Turn to SettlementBoard.com for more on the settlement of Levaquin lawsuits, and for settlements involving companies including Costco and DeBeers.
Information in this post gathered in association with an Orange County family law attorney
Chinese Drywall Lawsuit Near Settlement
A Chinese drywall lawsuit is one step closer to a potential settlement after a federal judge approved a plan for Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin Co. and other companies to help repair 300 homes damaged by defective drywall. The agreement may expand to 3,000 homes if it’s successful.
Homeowners who discovered the defective Chinese drywall filed the lawsuit. They allege that the drywall leaks corrosive chemicals and leads to property damage, including issues with air conditioning systems, electrical appliances, internal wiring and other electrical systems. Plaintiffs also claim that the defective building material causes health issues, including respiratory problems, nosebleeds and headaches.
The agreement, approved by judge Eldon Fallon, calls for the companies to oversee removal of the Chinese drywall and replace electrical wiring and fixtures damaged by toxins. They’ll also compensate homeowners for alternative living arrangements during the repairs. Environmental engineers will inspect all of the renovated homes once work is complete.
This Chinese drywall lawsuit is one of many that has been filed around the country. According to the Homeowners Consumer Center, houses in all 50 states could possibly contain Chinese drywall, but Florida, Louisiana and Virginia have the most occurrences.
The other companies included in the agreement are QBE Insurance Group Ltd. and State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., the Louisiana Homebuilders Indemnity Trust and the Louisiana-based supplier Interior/Exterior Building Supply.
For more information on recent and noteworthy settlements, check out our section on settlements in the news.
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