Case Status
Settled
Attorneys
Steve W. Berman
Practice Areas
Pharmaceutical Fraud
Court
U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts
Case Number
1:05-cv-11148; 09-CV-1577
Defendant(S)
First DataBank
File Date
Related Documents

 

CASE SETTLED
A settlement was reached with First Data Bank (FDB), publisher of the Average Wholesale Price list for pharmaceutical products. As part of the settlement, FDB will adjust the Wholesale Acquisition Cost to AWP markup on 95 percent of pharmaceuticals sold in the United States. FDB's adjusted mark-up on pharmaceutical products shall not exceed 1.20, resulting in a 4 percent price reduction in all retail drugs. U.S. drug savings are estimated to reach $4 billion in 2007 alone. Of that, $3.3 billion will go to third party payers, while approximately $400 million will go to the uninsured. FDB has also agreed to stop publishing the AWP list for pharmaceutical products after a two year notice period.

 

FDB was alleged to have improperly set the AWP for 95 percent of all retail drugs. The AWP list is used by health plans and state Medicaid programs in determining how much to pay pharmacies for certain drugs.

On June 7, 2007 the court gave its preliminary approval in a settlement between First Databank Inc., Medispan and the class of third party payers and consumers who purchased brand name drugs from the period 2001-2005.

The proposed settlement agreement was presented to the court in August 2006 and amended in May 2007 and states that FDB and Medispan would adjust the Wholesale Acquisition Cost to AWP mark-up on most major brand name pharmaceuticals sold in the United States. The agreement also limits the amount FDB can mark up pharmaceuticals resulting in a 4 percent price reduction in all retail drugs.

The settlement is expected to result in drug savings by purchasers of several billion dollars for both third party payers and uninsured.

Supporting Documents:

Case Timeline

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