For more fraud from Big Pharma (h/t Cos):
The Commonwealth Court has entered a more than $51 million bench verdict in favor of the Pennsylvania state government against pharmaceutical manufacturer Johnson & Johnson for allegedly overcharging state programs and consumers for prescription drug reimbursements.
On Dec. 7, Judge Robert Simpson filed a non-jury decision ordering the New Brunswick, N.J.-based drugmaker to reimburse the state government $45,283,562 and pay civil penalties in the amount of $6,567,000.
The total amount of the verdict was $51,850,562.In his decision in Commonwealth v. Johnson & Johnson , Simpson also barred Johnson & Johnson from quoting either to the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare or to state programs increased average wholesale prices (AWPs) for its drugs without also reporting current acquisition costs such as average manufacturers’ prices or average sales prices.
In addition, Simpson prohibited the company from promoting or marketing “spreads” — the difference between the price a prescriber pays for a drug and the price it is reimbursed for that drug — for any of its drugs that are reimbursed by state programs.
