The states, which include California, filed a suit in a Massachusetts federal court last week that alleges the company encouraged physicians to bill insurers, including Medicare and Medicaid, for the drug when it was provided by the company free of charge to the physicians.
Aranesp is commonly administered to kidney disease and cancer patients in order to increase red blood cell production and hemoglobin levels. The drug, like other anemia drugs, is now linked with serious side effects including heart attack and stroke.
The suit alleges that beginning around 2002, Amgen significantly overfilled single-dose vials of Aranesp so that higher doses of the drug could be administered to patients and billed to insurers, while the providers paid only for the lower dose. The suit also alleges that Amgen sales representative demonstrated potential revenue from billing for higher doses to clients during office visit.
The suit alleges that Amgen violated a number of various state laws including fraud, false claims and unjust-enrichment statutes. The states are seeking damages and civil penalties which amount to $10,000 per violation in some states, according to the report.
Read the Wall Street Journal’s report on the Amgen lawsuit.
