Abbott Laboratories, B. Braun Medical and Boehringer Ingelheim Roxane (formerly known as Roxane Laboratories) have agreed to pay $421 million to settle False Claims Act allegations, the Justice Department announced Tuesday.
Federal officials said the settlements resolve claims that the companies engaged in a scheme to report false and inflated prices for numerous pharmaceutical products.
Because payment from the Medicare and Medicaid programs was based on false inflated prices, the government alleged that the three pharmaceutical companies caused millions in false claims to be submitted to federal healthcare programs, Justice Department officials said.
"These significant settlements are a part of the Attorney General's aggressive effort to combat fraud on the federal treasury," said Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division Tony West.
Since January of 2009, the Justice Department's Civil Division and U.S. attorneys have recovered more than $9 billion in cases alleging false claims, fraud against the government and violations of the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.
According to West, cases alleging fraud or false claims against government healthcare programs since 2009 have formed the lion's share of the recoveries. The Justice Department has opened more healthcare fraud cases, secured larger fines and judgments and recovered more dollars lost to healthcare fraud than in any other period, he said.
"Some pharmaceutical manufacturers have asserted that a culture within the industry gave them license to manipulate the system to suit their interests. This is not the case," said Carmen Ortiz, U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts. "When manufacturers report drug pricing information that they know will be relied upon by government healthcare programs, they are obliged to report honest prices. It is unlawful to do otherwise."