NAPA, Calif., Nov. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Dey, L.P. announced today that it has reached a settlement with the Attorney General of the State of Ohio regarding pricing litigation that had been filed against DEY. John Kling, Senior Vice President of Legal Affairs at DEY, stated, “We are pleased that this settlement achieves a resolution to the pricing litigation brought by the State of Ohio. The net amount of cash paid to the State of Ohio, after legal fees and the Federal government’s share of the settlement, is $952,925. In addition, Dey will donate respiratory pharmaceuticals to certain Ohio health care centers for four years. Medically underserved populations of patients in Ohio will receive these donated drugs.”
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 Ohio 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 Ohio 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.”
Kling noted, “DEY is settling this litigation as a pragmatic solution to avoid the costs of continuing litigation and the vagaries inherent in it. 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 Ohio and the rest of the country.”
As part of the settlement, the State of Ohio acknowledges that the settlement does not constitute an admission of fault, liability, or unlawful conduct by DEY or its affiliates. This settlement releases DEY and any other Merck KGaA companies by the State of Ohio.
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
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
