News
WW Announces Proposed $125 Million Settlement with Eleven AWP Defendants
Eleven major pharmaceutical companies have agreed to a $125 million nationwide class action settlement to settle claims in the Average Wholesale Price (AWP) litigation pending in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts (Saris, J.), where WW is co-lead counsel. The case alleges that defendant pharmaceutical companies wrongfully inflated the AWP for numerous drugs adminsitered in a physician's office and therefore caused consumers and third-party payors to pay more for those drugs.
The settlement class includes anyone who reimbursed any portion of an insured's Medicare Part B co-payment for the settlement drugs between January 1, 1991 through January 1, 2005 or those who made reimbursements outside the Medicare Part B context for any of the settlement drugs from January 1, 1991 through March 1, 2008. Medicare Part B beneficiaries eligible to participate in the settlement will receive a mailing outlining how to file a claim.
The defendants included in the settlement are Abbott Laboratories, Inc.; Amgen, Inc.; Aventis Pharamaceuticals, Inc.; Hoechst Marion Roussel; Baxter Healthcare Corp.; Baxter International, Inc.; Bayer Corporation; Dey, Inc.; Fujisawa Healthcare, Inc.; Immunex Corporation; Pharmacia Corporation; Phamarcia & Upjohn LLC; Sicor, Inc.; Gensia, Inc.; Gensia Sicor Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; and ZLB Behring, L.L.C.
The drugs covered in the settlement include Aranesp, Epogen, Neupogen, Neulasta, Anzemet, Ferrlecit and Infed.
The hearing to determine whether the settlement will be given preliminary approval is scheduled for Friday, March 14.
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