Aventis settles US drug price case for $190M

The US Justice Department says that Aventis Pharmaceuticals, now part of French drug major Sanofi-Aventis, has paid the USA government and a number of states, as well as the District of Columbia, over $190.0 million to resolve allegations that the firm caused false claims to be filed with Medicare and other federal health programs as a result of its alleged fraudulent pricing and marketing of drugs.

The French drugmaker notes that the settlement relates to government claims that Aventis artificially inflated the average wholesale price for Anzemet (dolasetron), which in turn increased the cost of government reimbursements for the drug. Anzemet was introduced in 1997 by the Franco-German company Aventis and is provided to cancer patients to prevent nausea and vomiting that can accompany some types of chemotherapy. The accord covers the time period of September 1, 1997 through June 30, 2004 - prior to the formation of Sanofi-Aventis. The group has decided to resolve this legacy matter through this settlement, without admitting any wrongdoing. The total amount of the settlement is fully covered by existing reserves, says the drugmaker.

The difference between the reimbursement rate of the federal health care programs and the actual price paid by health care providers is commonly known as the "spread." The larger the spread on a drug, the bigger the profit for the provider. Because reimbursement from federal programs was based on the fraudulent, inflated prices, the USA contended that Aventis caused false and fraudulent claims to be submitted to federal health care programs, says the Justice Department.