Drug giant settles suit on cancer treatment
Sanofi-Aventis, based in Paris, will pay $190 million over an alleged price-inflating scheme.
MIAMI - French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi-Aventis agreed to pay $190 million to settle allegations of fraud in the pricing and marketing of a drug used for cancer treatment side effects, the U.S. Justice Department announced yesterday.
The civil settlement involves an alleged scheme by the company to artificially inflate the price of the drug Anzemet, increasing the cost of government reimbursements for the drug. U.S. officials say the result was that false Anzemet claims were submitted to federal health programs.
The case arose from a lawsuit filed under the False Claims Act by Ven-A-Care of the Florida Keys Inc., which will receive about $32 million under the settlement.
"Corporations cannot continue to mislead the government into paying vastly exaggerated prices by exploiting a health-care system based on trust and fair play," said Miami U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta.
Sanofi-Aventis, based in Paris, said in a statement that the case involved predecessor company Aventis Pharmaceuticals Inc. from September 1997 to June 2004, before the formation of the new company. Sanofi-Aventis acknowledged no wrongdoing.
The bulk of the settlement will be paid to the federal government, with a $10.2 million fund created for states and the District of Columbia to pursue potential Medicaid overpayment claims for the drug.
In addition, the Sanofi-Aventis' subsidiary in the U.S. reached a five-year agreement with the Health and Human Services Department to report sales and manufacturer's prices for its drugs covered by federal programs.