AstraZeneca Response to February 21, 2008 Ruling In Re: Alabama Medicaid Pharmaceutical AWP Litigation - cv2005-219 - Circuit Co
February 21 2008 - 3:59PM
PR Newswire (US)
WILMINGTON, Del., Feb. 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AstraZeneca
believes this lawsuit is legally and factually unfounded and we
intend to appeal to the Alabama Supreme Court, if the trial court
does not reject the jury's verdict. The case was based on the
misleading premise that the Alabama State Medicaid Agency did not
understand the basics on how drug prices are established and
reported. We believe numerous errors occurred during the
proceedings and that the verdict should not be upheld. For example,
the Court ruled that important information on the workings of the
Alabama pharmacy system be withheld throughout the trial. The Court
also permitted evidence of earlier, unrelated settlements and
proceedings in clear violation of the rules of evidence. These and
other reversible errors were compounded by negative public comments
by the trial lawyers and state leaders prior to the jury selection
process. AstraZeneca has fully complied with the law, government
guidelines and contracts that govern Medicaid pricing. We currently
provide medicines to Medicaid programs at the lowest price that we
offer to our best business clients, as federal law requires.
AstraZeneca and the State Medicaid program share a common goal of
helping people access the medicines they need. To help patients who
have difficulty affording their medicines, we offer patient
assistance programs side by side with our medicines. In the last
two years alone, AstraZeneca helped more than 28,800 Alabama
patients receive more than $25.5 million in savings through its
prescription savings programs. DATASOURCE: AstraZeneca CONTACT:
Tony Jewell, +1-302-885-4594, , or Laura Woodin, +1-302-885-1087, ,
both of AstraZeneca Web site: http://www.astrazeneca-us.com/
Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/985887.html
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