We settled Medicaid drug pricing lawsuits last month on behalf of the State of Alabama against Bristol-Myers Squibb and three other companies, Angen/Immunex, Bayer and Ethex. The case against Bristol-Myers Squibb, one of 72 companies the state sued for overcharging the state’s Medicaid program, had been set for a trial on October 27th. Earlier this year, Montgomery County Circuit Court juries returned multimillion-dollar verdicts against three pharmaceutical companies. Additionally, the state’s cases against Dey Labs and Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America Inc. had been settled a few months earlier. We agreed not to reveal the amounts of the latest settlements until such time as appropriate court orders are entered by Judge Charles Price.

These settlements will make it virtually impossible for the Alabama Supreme Court to reverse the jury verdicts against AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline and Novartis once they apply the facts of those cases to the applicable law. That’s because the fraud committed by the drug manufacturers in all of the cases is identical. A jury in February ordered the U.S. subsidiary of U.K. drug maker AstraZeneca, to pay the state $215 million — $40 million in compensatory damages and $175 million in punitive damages. Circuit Judge Charles Price correctly reduced the total amount of the damages in that case to $160 million. In July, another jury found in favor of the state in lawsuits against the drug companies GlaxoSmithKline and Novartis. The jury found GSK liable for nearly $81 million in compensatory damages and found Novartis owed the state about $33 million in similar damages. No punitive damages were awarded in that case against either defendant.

AstraZeneca has appealed its case to the Alabama Supreme Court. GlaxoSmithKline and Novartis have post-verdict motions pending before Judge Price. At press time, we were in serious settlement negotiations with several of the companies which have pending cases. Hopefully, agreements will be reached very soon in those cases.

Other Related Articles

• Alabama settles Medicaid fraud cases
• Drug Companies settle with Missouri in another Medicaid Fraud Lawsuit
• Status Of AWP Appeals
• Good Ruling From The Alabama Supreme Court
• More Medicaid fraud cases set for trial in Alabama