Feds, 16 States Allege Medicaid Fraud By Wyeth

You know, it must've been a cakewalk for pharma companies to rip off Medicaid because it seems like several of them have done it. The latest entrant in the Hall of Lame is Wyeth. From the DOJ's press release:

"The United States and 16 states have joined in two whistleblower suits filed in the District of Massachusetts against the drug manufacturer, Wyeth, alleging that the company knowingly failed to give the government the same discounts it provided to private purchasers of its drugs, as required by laws governing the Medicaid program. As a result, Wyeth allegedly avoided paying hundreds of millions in rebates due to state Medicaid programs for its drugs, Protonix Oral and Protonix IV. These drugs belong to a class of drugs known as proton pump inhibitors (PPI), which are used to suppress stomach acid."

Let's hope they get their money back without having to go to trial.