Hawaii files lawsuit against 44 pharmaceutical companies
By Trevor Schubert
Published on May 01, 2006
The state of Hawaii, which pays all prescription drug costs for Medicaid patients, has seen their accrued costs go from $45 million in 1999, to $117 million in 2004.
The main reason for the rise in drug and Medicaid costs is because pharmaceutical companies set grossly inflated drug prices, claims State Attorney General Mark Bennett.
"We believe this scheme is deceptive, illegal, and has cost the state government and Medicaid consumer tens of millions of dollars," Bennett said.
The 44-company lawsuit was announced by Bennett as an effort to stop the practice and to recover what the state is due. The state reports there are approximately 352,000 Hawaii residents currently enrolled in Medicaid and Medicare.
"Do not mistake this at all. The taxpayers of Hawaii have been swindled by certain drug manufactures falsely inflating prices in our Medicaid program and our Medicaid beneficiaries," Department of Human Services Director Lillian Koller said.
A representative for Merck & Co., Inc., said they will not comment on pending litigation. Their response did say that in the U.S., the price of medicine is established in a competitive marketplace.
Among the most common medicines manufactured by the companies named in the suit are: Plavix, Lipitor, Seroquel and Fosamax.
Hawaii joins over a dozen other states who have already filed similar lawsuits.
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