GSK, Novartis plan to appeal verdict
Published: Fri, Jul. 04, 2008 12:30AM
Modified Fri, Jul. 04, 2008 03:03AM
E-Mail
Print
tool name
closeMONTGOMERY, ALA. -- Two large pharmaceutical companies said Thursday they will appeal a jury verdict ordering them to pay more than $114 million for overcharging the state's Medicaid program for prescription drugs.
GlaxoSmithKline and Novartis announced plans to appeal to the Alabama Supreme Court as the state sent letters to 69 other drug companies telling them they had 30 days to settle drug-pricing lawsuits against them.
GSK attorney Don Jones said the company did not commit fraud, as claimed by the state, and it would appeal its judgment of almost $81 million. "We think the evidence was clear we reported clear and accurate prices and the state knew what the prices we reported represented," Jones said. Officials with Novartis said in a news release that they would appeal their "unfounded" $33 million verdict.
More Business
The trial of is the second stemming from Alabama's 2005 lawsuit against 70 drugmakers. The state alleged the companies overstated the drugs' average wholesale prices, a number used to calculate Medicaid reimbursement rates to pharmacies.
GSK's drugs include the antidepressant Paxil and the ulcer drug Zantac. The British company has U.S. headquarters in Research Triangle Park.
Get it all with convenient home delivery of The News & Observer.
The News & Observer is pleased to be able to offer its users the opportunity to make comments and hold conversations online. However, the interactive nature of the internet makes it impracticable for our staff to monitor each and every posting.
Since The News & Observer does not control user submitted statements, we cannot promise that readers will not occasionally find offensive or inaccurate comments posted on our website. In addition, we remind anyone interested in making an online comment that responsibility for statements posted lies with the person submitting the comment, not The News and Observer.
If you find a comment offensive, clicking on the exclamation icon will flag the comment for review by the administrators, we are counting on the good judgment of all our readers to help us.
