AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis pharmaceuticals news
The Supreme Court of Alabama overturned jury verdicts reached in 2008 by the Circuit Court of Montgomery County, Alabama which found the pharmas reported false and misleading prices for marketed drugs that were reimbursed by Alabama Medicaid Agency. The Supreme Court concluded there was no fraud and stated that by using the pricing conventions, which included average wholesale prices (AWPs) and wholesale acquisition costs (WACs), for decades and persisting to do so after the original suit was filed, the state demonstrated it understood that reported prices were "undiscounted list prices."
The latest ruling overturns the $32 million in compensatory damages the jury ordered Novartis to pay, the $81 million ordered from GlaxoSmithKline and the $40 million in compensatory and $175 million in punitive damages ordered from AstraZeneca. AstraZeneca's punitive damages figure was lowered to $120 million last year (see BioCentury, June 30, 2008, & July 14, 2008). ...