According to the Relators in this case, Dr. William LaCorte and Lauren Kieff, the fraud allegedly perpetrated by Wyeth during a 5-year period is an industry wide practice. And LaCorte should know. Last year Merck settled a lawsuit filed by LaCorte twelve years earlier, by paying the government $650 million for defrauding Medicaid.
Pharmacuetical manufacturers across the nation pay hidden discounts and kickbacks to hospitals as part of a scheme to avoid paying rebates owed to the government on drugs purchased through Medicaid. By law, Medicaid must get the "best price."
According to LaCorte, "This is business as usual by hospitals and drug companies in the United States."
