Drug manufacturer Amgen Inc. will pay $11 million to settle claims by New York and 35 other states that the company”™s inflated pricing data led to overpayments for several prescription drugs by the states”™ Medicaid programs.
New York will receive $3.3 million from the settlement, state Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced.
The states charged that Amgen inflated average wholesale price and wholesale acquisition cost data, benchmarks used by most states”™ Medicaid programs to set pharmacy reimbursement rates for drugs dispensed to patients. Amgen allegedly marketed the artificially inflated spread  to Medicaid providers in order to boost its sales of Aranesp, Enbrel, Epogen, Neulasta, Neupogen, and Sensipar, drugs used to treat kidney disease and cancer patients.
This settlement was part of a larger investigation into allegations of illegal marketing practices at Amgen, which included promoting the drugs for unapproved uses and illegal kickback schemes. The company pleaded guilty in federal court to a misdemeanor for introducing a misbranded drug into interstate commerce.
Amgem has paid a total of more than $647 million in damages related to the investigations, with New York”™s Medicaid program recovering more than $19.2 million.
As in the previous settlements with Amgen, New York led a national team of state attorneys and analysts from California, Illinois, Indiana and North Carolina and worked through the National Association of Medicaid Fraud Control Units.
“With this settlement the message we are sending is clear: Biotechnology giants are not above the law and my office will continue to ensure that those who cheat the system are held accountable,” Schneiderman said in the announcement.
