Medicaid drug price suits settled

NEW YORK (AP) - Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., the world's largest generic drugmaker, said Friday it is settling several lawsuits related to Medicaid reimbursement for its products, and is setting aside $315 million to cover the settlement and other suits.

Teva did not say how much it will pay to resolve the lawsuits and how much will be placed in reserve. The Israeli company said the settlement would end lawsuits involving the U.S. government and the states of Florida, Texas, and California. It said the lawsuits allege Teva Pharmaceutical inflated the prices of products to get more reimbursement money from Medicaid programs.

The company said the lawsuit was brought by Ven-A-Care of the Florida Keys Inc., which has filed numerous lawsuits against drugmakers over the years.

Teva said the settlement would end the claims involving federal contributions to Medicaid programs, and claims by the three states. It said other suits remain, but those settlements would resolve most of the alleged damages. Teva denies the allegations.

Teva said "many other pharmaceutical manufacturers" are also named in the civil suits, which involve about 15 states.