Sanofi-aventis U.S. Announces Settlement of Medicaid 'Best Price' Investigation
By: PR Newswire | 28 May 2009 | 11:12 AM ET Text Size BRIDGEWATER, N.J., May 28, 2009 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- Sanofi-aventis U.S. announced today a civil settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts to resolve a Medicaid "best price" investigation involving one of its predecessor companies, Aventis Pharmaceuticals Inc. (API).
The settlement ends an investigation into whether sales by API of certain products to a managed care organization for resale under that organization's private label should have been included in the "best price" calculations used to compute Medicaid rebates for API products. Although the company believes API acted in accordance with the law at the time, the company elected to resolve this legacy matter through this settlement, without admitting any wrongdoing.
The settlement calls for payment of $95.5 million (plus interest) which includes payment of approximately $55.5 million to resolve all federal claims and the establishment of an "opt-in" fund of approximately $40 million for states desiring to resolve Medicaid rebate claims relating to the same conduct. The total amount of the settlement is fully covered by existing reserves.
This settlement also provides for an Addendum to the five-year Corporate Integrity Agreement with the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services that the company entered into in August 2007. The Addendum, which deals primarily with matters related to the Medicaid "best price" calculations, will run concurrently with the August 2007 agreement. About sanofi-aventis Sanofi-aventis U.S. is an affiliate of sanofi-aventis, a leading global pharmaceutical company that discovers, develops and distributes therapeutic solutions to help improve the lives of patients. Sanofi-aventis is listed in Paris (EURONEXT: SAN) and in New York (NYSE: SNY).