Cheating the Government For Business With Walmart

Even our friends from across the ocean know how easy it is to steal from government health care programs! And when it comes to working with Walmart, one of the largest companies in the world that has hundreds of millions of people walking through its stores every year, the competition for contracts can tempt some companies into downright fraudulent dealings. Take Teva Pharmaceuticals, which was recently forced to pay Texas, California, Florida and the U.S. government for a combined $169 million to settle charges that it negotiated deals with Walmart, CVS and Walgreens, among others, to sell them hundreds of Medicaid-sponsored drugs at lower prices than they were charging the government. Because a drug manufacturer can only participate in the Medicaid rebate program if he offers the lowest possible price to patients receiving assistance from the government, Teva was knowingly taking more money from the government than it legally deserved.

Schwarz Pharma Ignores FDA Regulations And Sells Unsafe Drugs

Its probably safe to assume that the old adage "If at first you don't succeed, try again" shouldn't apply to a drug that the government decides should no longer be sold to its Medicaid patients. Someone, apparently, never told this to Schwarz Pharma Inc., now a subsidiary of Belgium-based UCB S.A. After the FDA made decisions about the active ingredients in two of its drugs, Deponit and Hyoscyamine Sulfate Extended Release (Hyoscyamine Sulfate ER), in the late '90s that resulted in the drugs' ineligibility for rebates, Schwarz simply ignored the new regulations and continued to sell the drug through the Medicaid program. The pharmaceutical company was charge $22 million by the Justice Department for its commitment of fraud.

Wisconsin Recovers Millions From Big Pharma Scheme

The state of Wisconsin pocketed a nice check of $7.75 million after discovering, charging and settling with four pharmaceutical companies over allegations that the drug producers were defrauding the state's Medicaid program. Germany-based Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, as well as affiliates Boehringer Ingelheim Roxane Inc., Ben Venue Laboratories Inc., and Roxane Laboratories Inc., were the four defendants.