Teva Sued by U.S. Over Claims of Copaxone Medicare Fraud
- Company accused of paying $300 million to boost drug purchases
- Suit part of crackdown on plans U.S. says prop up high prices
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Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. defrauded Medicare and other government health programs by channeling $300 million through two charitable foundations to boost sales of the company’s best-selling multiple-sclerosis drug Copaxone, the U.S. said in a lawsuit.
The Israel-based drugmaker used the foundations to cover co-payments for patients, insulating them from big price increases to prop up excessive drug costs, the U.S. Justice Department said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court in Boston. From 2007 to 2015, Teva raised the price of Copaxone from about $17,000 a year to more than $73,000, according to the government.