Amgen has big problems with its drug, Aranesp. Last week, New York along with 13 other states accused pharmaceutical giant Amgen, of Thousand Oaks, California, of offering bribes to health care professionals to boost sales in the USA. It is claimed that Amgen provided kickbacks to market its anemia drug, Aranesp, which has experts concerned about its safety.
In a statement released by New York attorney Andrew Cuomo, it is clamed that the 14 states have filed a law suit in federal court in Massachussets accusing Amgen representives of encouraging physicians to bill insurers for Aranesp that was supposed to be free for patients.
The alleged corrupt practice by Amgen mentioned in the lawsuit has cost both Medicaid and private insurance companies millions of dollars. There are also allegations that Amgen conspired with other defendants to offer illegal inducements to medical providers to increase sales of Aranesp. It is alleged that Amgen rewarded physicians with weekend retreat packages and other rewards.
Said Andrew Cuomo, “Drugs should be prescribed to patients on the basis of need, effectiveness and safety, not on a corporate giant’s promise of an all-expense-paid vacation,” He futher added “In an egregious violation of the law, Amgen allegedly bribed medical providers and left taxpayers footing the bill for free drug samples.”
So far Amgen has released a single statement claiming that these allegations are without any merit and the company is looking forward to clearing its name in court. Despite repeated phone calls and e mails, Amgen has refused to say more because of pending litigation.
The other defendants in the case, AmerisourceBergen Corp., the Pennsylvania-based parent company of ASD Healthcare and International Nephrology have also denied these allegations but admitted receiving subpoena from the U.S. Department of Justice regarding the Aranesp questions. Without providing any specifics, the defendants do claim that they are cooperating with the government.
As always the Justice Department has made no comment about the pending law suit.
Aranesp is one of Amgen’s best selling drugs although sales have declined in recent years because of safety concerns. Sales of Aranesp have dropped from $15 billion in 2008 to $3 billion this year. According to recent Congress hearings, Amgen drugs Aranesp and Epogen are one of the biggest expense for medicare and private insurance companies.
In the last few years. Aranesp has come under scrutiny after several reports revealed that these blood thinning drugs can increase the risk of heart disease, stroke and even tumor growth. In 2007, the FDA issued a strong “black-box warning” for Amgen’s anemia medications regarding its potential for side effects.
This present law suit against Amgen focuses on a pharmaceutical practice known as “overfill”. The extra medicine is supposed to be provided free to the patient without charge. However, according to the lawsuit, the “overfills” allowed physicians and hospitals to bill patient’s insurance companies and medicare for the extra drug which was supposed to be free.
“In offering the overfill inducement to medical providers, Amgen’s sales force encouraged medical providers to administer higher doses of Aranesp to patients without any clinical need for that higher dose,” the states allege.
The lawsuit contains alleged examples of New York healthcare facilities presenting Medicaid reimbursement claims for Aranesp that were not entitled for compensation because Amgen’s suspected overfill habits dishonored the state’s anti-kickback edicts. Many cases where health care facilities have sought payments from the state Medicaid programs for thousands of Aranesp treatments that included free overfills have been exposed.
The states alleges in the lawsuit that Amgen violated many state laws including intent to commit fraud, fraudulent claims and unjust profiteering. The suit is seeking triple damages, civil and monetary penalties.