NAPA, Calif., Nov. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Responding to today’s announcement from the State of Idaho Office of the Attorney General about the settlement between the State and Dey, L.P., John Kling, Senior Vice President of Legal Affairs at DEY, stated, “The settlement we have reached with the Idaho Attorney General is a welcome resolution to the pricing litigation brought by the State. The net amount of cash paid to the State of Idaho, after legal fees, is $1,072,700; the Federal government’s share of the settlement will be paid out of this amount by the State of Idaho.”
DEY has consistently participated legally and ethically within National and various State reimbursement systems. Kling continued, “When virtually an entire industry is sued -- as has been the case with the pricing lawsuits similar to this one in Idaho that have been filed around the country by dozens of attorneys general -- it indicates that the real issue is not the industry’s conduct, but rather the government’s own reimbursement system. The claims against DEY in Idaho and elsewhere derive from a government reimbursement model that relied on published Average Wholesale Prices (AWP). For more than three decades, the Federal and State governments have known about the AWP- based reimbursement model, understood its limitations, and accepted its use as a way to gain the voluntary participation of pharmacists and other healthcare providers in the public healthcare entitlement program Medicaid. The ‘spread’ between dispensers’ acquisition costs and Medicaid reimbursements provided the mechanism whereby pharmacists and other healthcare professionals could recapture their actual dispensing costs.
“The problems with the AWP-based reimbursement model are a primary reason why Congress and the Administration reformed the pricing system under the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003. Many in the pharmaceutical industry, including DEY, supported those reforms.”
“DEY is settling this litigation as a pragmatic solution to avoid the costs of continuing litigation and the vagaries inherent in it,” Kling continued. “Reaching this relatively modest settlement allows us now to put this litigation behind us and move forward with what we do best -- manufacturing and marketing high-quality pharmaceuticals for the people of Idaho and the rest of the country.”
As part of the settlement, the State of Idaho acknowledges that the settlement does not constitute an admission of fault, liability, or unlawful conduct by DEY or its affiliates.
About Dey, L.P.
Dey, L.P. is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development, manufacturing and marketing of prescription drug products for the treatment of respiratory diseases and respiratory-related allergies. Since 1978, patients have benefited from DEY’s commitment to innovative and affordable health care solutions. The Web sites for DEY include http://www.dey.com, http://www.accuneb.com, http://www.curosurfusa.com, http://www.duoneb.com, http://www.epipen.com.
Media contacts: Dey, L.P. Media Line 1-800-755-5560 ext. 8363 or Harriet Ullman Feinstein Kean Healthcare 617-761-6776 hullman@fkhealth.com
Dey, L.P.
CONTACT: Dey, L.P. Media Line: 1-800-755-5560 ext. 8363, or Harriet Ullmanof Feinstein Kean Healthcare, +1-617-761-6776, hullman@fkhealth.com
Web site: http://www.dey.com/
