On April 1, 2021, the DOJ announced that Bristol Meyers Squibb agreed to pay $75 million to resolve allegations that the company underpaid rebates owed under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program. Of the total settlement amount, Bristol Meyers Squibb will pay approximately $41 million, plus interest, to the United States, and $34 million to participating states.
This settlement resolves a lawsuit filed in 2013 in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania by Ronald Streck under the whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act. Streck alleged that, from 2007 to 2013, Bristol Meyers Squibb underreported the “average manufacturer prices” for a number of its drugs, thereby reducing the amount it owed in quarterly rebates to state Medicaid programs under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program. This alleged underpayment of rebates caused the United States to be overcharged for its payments to the states for the Medicaid program. The government declined to intervene, and Streck and his counsel proceeded with the case on their own.
Related links available at: DOJ Press Release; Law360 Coverage