Ranbaxy to pay Texas $40 mn to settle litigation

Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd has settled a litigation concerning its participation in the Texas Medicaid Program, a US health care plan focused on people with low income, by agreeing to pay $39.75 million (about Rs 244 crore) to the State of Texas. The payment will be made in a series of tranches through August 2015.
 
“The claims at issue related exclusively to the manner in which the Ranbaxy has historically reported pricing data to Texas Medicaid for certain of its drugs. As has been widely reported, the State of Texas has brought nearly identical claims against virtually every other major pharmaceutical manufacturer in the US. Ranbaxy believes that it fully complied with all relevant laws, however the company settled the matter to avoid any further distraction and uncertainty of continued litigation with the State of Texas,” said Ranbaxy in a BSE filing.
 
The litigation settlement comes after the company paid a hefty penalty of $500 million to the US Department of Justice in May 2013, after it pleaded guilty to felony charges related to drug safety and misrepresenting data to gain faster approvals. This comprised $150 million for a criminal charge and forfeiture and $350 million in payments for civil claims.
 
In September, the generic drug maker had said it had received a ‘civil investigative demand’ (CID) from the Department of Justice relating to the manner in which it reported pricing data for certain products eligible for reimbursement under the Medicaid programme.
 
CID is a request for documents and information, and is not an allegation of wrongdoing or demand for compensation, Ranbaxy had said in September.