Lawmakers and not-for-profit groups are pushing the feds to help clear a backlog of some 900 whistleblower lawsuits--and a sizable number of those were filed against drugmakers, the Washington Post reports.
You know the type: Consider the Merck case, which the drugmaker paid $650 to settle; it alleged that the company failed to repay Medicaid rebates. Then there was the $515 million Bristol-Myers Squibb deal, which settled claims of illegal marketing and pricing. Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) is among those calling for the Department of Justice to make these investigations a priority. Whether that means we'll see more pharma settlements--well, we'll just have to wait and see.
- read the WP story [1]
Related Articles:
Court reinstates Pfizer whistleblower suit [2]
Whistleblowers allege problems with Wyeth's Prevnar [3]
Links:
[1] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/01/AR2008070103071_3.html?hpid=topnews
[2] http://www.fiercepharma.com/story/court-reinstates-pfizer-whistleblower-suit/2007-11-19
[3] http://www.fiercebioresearcher.com/vaccines/story/whistleblowers-allege-problems-with-wyeth-s-prevnar/2008-03-06