US AstraZeneca fraud verdict upheld
The US arm of Anglo-Swedish drug major AstraZeneca had a fraud verdict against it upheld in a state court, but the damages it is required to pay dropped to $160.0 million.
In a previous trial (Marketletter March 3), AstraZeneca was ordered to pay a sum of $215.0 million, $40.0 million in compensatory damages and $175.0 million in punitive damages, over charges of fraud in the pricing of drugs for the Medicaid program brought against the firm by the State of Alabama. The firm appealed, but the State Judge upheld the verdict, only reducing the cost to $160.0 million to keep in line with legal limits on punitive charges.
The drug major is the first tried of 73 companies that stand accused of having overcharged the State of Alabama for prescription drugs it purchased for Medicaid patients. US arms of both Swiss drug major Novartis and the former SmithKline Beecham, now GlaxoSmithKline, are also among the list of parties awaiting trial.
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