ATTORNEY GENERAL OF SOUTH CAROLINA BRINGS $40 MILLION SUIT AGAINST DRUG COMPANIES

The attorney general of South Carolina has filed a lawsuit to recover more than $40 million in taxpayer funds from five drug companies.

According to Attorney General Henry McMaster, the pharmaceutical companies have fraudulently manipulated prices of Medicaid and State Health Plan prescription drug claims, resulting in $40 million in overpayments.

The defendants named in the lawsuit, the product of a year-long investigation, include Abbott Laboratories, Baxter, Dey, Boehringer Ingelheim Roxane and Schering-Plough.

The lawsuit states that the companies intentionally misreported the average wholesale price of selected drugs, which led to overcharging South Carolina taxpayers by more than $40 million.

According to McMaster, South Carolina Medicaid has spent more than $300 million on prescription drugs from these companies since 1995. In addition, the State Health Plan of South Carolina has spent more than $100 million.

To date, 21 states have filed similar lawsuits alleging inflated drug prices.