There’s more, folks… “As part of this global resolution, Glaxo agreed to resolve its civil liability for the following alleged conduct: (1) promoting the drugs Paxil, Wellbutrin, Advair, Lamictal and Zofran for off-label, non-covered uses and paying kickbacks to physicians to prescribe those drugs as well as the drugs Imitrex, Lotronex, Flovent and Valtrex; (2) making false and misleading statements concerning the safety of Avandia; and (3) reporting false best prices and underpaying rebates owed under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program.” These infractions, which were described in four whistleblower lawsuits, resulted in a $1 billion fine.
And Glaxo is also resolving allegations that, between 1994 and 2003, false drug prices were reported to the federal government, which resulted in underpaying rebates owed under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program. By law, Glaxo was required to report the lowest, or best price charged customers and to pay quarterly rebates to states based on those reported prices. And so, Glaxo agreed to pay $300 million to resolve these allegations, including $160.9 million to the federal government, $118.8 million to the states and $20.2 million to certain Public Health Service entities who paid inflated prices for the drugs at issue, according to the statement from the feds.