“When drug companies enroll as providers to Medicaid, they agree to sell their drugs to Medicaid programs at their lowest price,” Cordray said. “By circumventing the terms of the rebate statute, they’re cheating all taxpayers and enriching themselves at the expense of a program designed as a safety net for the poor.”
The rebate statute required the company to report to Medicaid the lowest or “best” prices it charged for the three sprays, the press release said. Aventis entered into “private label” agreements with Kaiser Permanente, large health maintenance organization, and repackaged drugs under a new label to avoid reporting the best prices to Medicaid, the release said.
The multi-state and federal settlement agreement was announced in May and totaled $95.5 million but the announcement of Ohio’s share didn’t come until Friday.
When the settlement was announced, Sanofi-aventis U.S. said in a press release that “although the company believes API acted in accordance with the law at the time, the company elected to resolve this legacy matter through this settlement, without admitting any wrongdoing.”
Cordray’s press release said that attorney general’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit this year has collected more than $81 million on behalf of the state’s Medicaid program.
Contact this reporter at (614) 224-1608 or whershey@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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