US government joins whistleblower suits over Wyeth's Medicaid sales
This article was originally published in Scrip
Executive Summary
The US Justice Department and 16 states have joined two whistleblower lawsuits filed against Wyeth, alleging that the company knowingly offered deep discounts to hospitals on its proton pump inhibitors, Protonix Oral (pantoprazole) and Protonix IV, but failed to give the government's Medicaid programme the same discount or "best price", as required by laws governing the Medicaid programme. It is alleged that Wyeth "avoided paying hundreds of millions in rebates due to states' Medicaid programmes" as a result, the Justice Department said.