15 manufacturers settle decade old drug pricing case with $242 million deal
The State of Illinois announced a $242 million settlement it secured with the help of Miner, Barnhill & Galland against numerous drug manufacturers that include big players such as GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Novartis and more.
Since 2004, Miner, Barnhill & Galland has served as outside counsel to the Office of the Illinois Attorney General in connection with its litigation alleging that nearly four dozen drug companies reported false and inflated Average Wholesale Prices (AWPs) that were used in setting the rates for Medicaid reimbursements to Illinois pharmacies who dispensed drugs to Medicaid patients. On October 28, the Office of the Illinois Attorney General issued a press release announcing the recovery of $242 million for the state through a settlement with the following drug companies: Abbott Laboratories, Aventis Pharmaceuticals, Aventis Behring, B. Braun Medical, Forest Laboratories, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Janssen Pharmaceutical Products, McNeil-PPC, Ortho Biotech Products, Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical, Novartis Pharmaceuticals, Pfizer, Pharmacia Corporation and TAP Pharmaceutical Products.
The $242 million settlement followed the May bench trial of the State’s claims against Johnson & Johnson, Janssen Pharmaceutical Products, McNeil-PPC, Ortho Biotech Products, and Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical. An earlier $135 million settlement of the State’s claims against Teva Pharmaceuticals was announced in January, following a bench trial and a ruling that Teva had violated the Illinois False Claims Act and caused damage to the State.
The $242 million settlement announced by the Office of the Attorney General on October 28, 2019 resolves the State’s claims against all remaining defendants in the case. In total, Miner Barnhill & Galland recovered more than $678 million on behalf of the State of Illinois in this litigation.
Read the full release