Caldwell
Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell is suing 18 drug companies the 19th Judicial District for allegedly inflating drug costs through the state's Medicaid program.
According to a press release from Caldwell's office, the lawsuit alleges that, "the pharmaceutical companies deliberately misreported drug price information in order to increase reimbursements made by Louisiana's Medicaid program."
Caldwell said that drug companies engaged in "an egregious abuse of the Medicaid reimbursement system. We believe Louisiana has lost hundreds of millions of dollars as a result of these drug companies' fraudulent pricing schemes."
The lawsuit alleges that Louisiana Medicaid spent more than $850 million for pharmaceutical drugs between 1991 to 2009. According to Caldwell, the drug companies fraudulently reported average wholesale prices, thus affecting how much is paid by Medicaid. The AG's office claims that these payments exceeded the true price of drugs by 30 to 600 percent.
The defendants are accused of violating the Louisiana Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Act, Louisiana's Antitrust Statute, Louisiana's Medical Assistance Programs Integrity Law, fraud, negligent misrepresentation and unjust enrichment.
The AG's press released does not name specific drug companies that are listed as defendants. Several calls to Caldwell's office seeking clarification of the companies named as defendants have gone unreturned.