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[p2001]

Thursday, September 25, 2003 Elul 28, 5763 Israel Time: 13:58 (GMT+3)






Last Update: 25/09/2003 13:58

State of Massachusetts accuses Teva, 12 other generics of fraud

By News Agencies



The State of Massachusetts is suing Israeli
drugmaker Teva Pharmaceuticals and 12 other
generic drugmakers, claiming they inflated drug
prices for Medicaid, the Wall Street Journal



reports.

The state`s lawsuit, to be filed
Thursday at the U.S. District
Court for the District of
Massachusetts, alleges that
Teva and the others cost
taxpayers $50 million extra
through fraudulent pricing
schemes.


Massachusetts is suing for treble damages as
well as costs. It also wants the court to
establish a mechanism to assure far prices in
the future, the paper reports.

Medicaid is a joint federal-state health
insurance plan that covers the poor, the
elderly, children, and the disabled. The state
pays for a limited number of drugs, yet
Medicaid still eats up a quarter of
Massachusetts` budget, or $6.2 billion a year.
Of that, $1.2 billion is earmarked for
medications.

Medicaid reimburses pharmacies and drug
suppliers based on price lists supplied by the
drugmakers every six months. The state claims
that the companies claimed far higher prices
than they charged the pharmacies, which made
their drugs more attractive to the drugstores,
as they got to keep the difference


http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/344355.html

[p2001]

Hier der entsprechende CNNMoney-Bericht

Mass. sues 13 generic drugmakers

Attorney general says firms, including Teva, Mylan, Barr Labs, overcharged state`s Medicaid program.
September 25, 2003: 7:05 AM EDT



NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Massachusetts attorney general is expected to file a lawsuit accusing 13 generic drugmakers of inflating prices charged to the state`s Medicaid healthcare program, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. said Thursday.

Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Israel-based Teva`s U.S. subsidiary, is one of the companies named in the complaint, the company said.

The firm "has an ongoing program designed to insure compliance with all such applicable rules and regulations," the company said in a news release. "Teva believes that it has meritorious defenses to the charges against it and intends to vigorously defend against this action."

The attorney general will file a lawsuit in U.S. District Court charging that the state`s Medicaid program overpaid as much as $50 million in recent years due to artificially high prices for widely used medicines, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Medicaid accounts for as much as one-quarter of the Massachusetts state budget, according to the paper.

"This is just a rip-off," the paper quoted Massachusetts Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly as saying.

The Generic Pharmaceutical Association, a trade association that represents generic manufacturers, told the Journal it had not yet fully reviewed the Massachusetts civil action.

"Generics save the states billions in Medicaid costs," Kathleen Jaeger, president of the trade group, told the paper.

The Journal said companies expected to be named in the lawsuit included Mylan Laboratories Inc (MYL: Research, Estimates). and Barr Laboratories Inc (BRL: Research, Estimates).`s Duramed Pharmaceuticals unit.

No comment was immediately available from those companies.

The Journal report said the suit was also expected to name Ivax Corp (IVX: Research, Estimates).; Warrick Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Schering-Plough Corp (SGP: Research, Estimates).; Schein Pharmaceutical, a subsidiary of Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc (WPI: Research, Estimates)., which was also to be named in the suit; Par Pharmaceutical Inc., a subsidiary of Pharmaceutical Resources Inc (PRX: Research, Estimates).; Dey Inc.; Ethex Corp., a subsidiary of K-V Pharmaceutical Co.; Purepac Pharmaceutical Co.; and, Roxane Laboratories, a subsidiary of Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH.


http://money.cnn.com/2003/09/25/news/companies/teva_mass.reu…