GlaxoSmithKline Plc on Thursday said it agreed to pay $70 million in a national settlement of civil lawsuits that alleged the company inflated costs of a number of its medicines, including its blockbuster Zofran nausea drug, according to Reuters. The deal follows a separate $150 million settlement Glaxo reached last September to resolve government charges that it had fraudulently inflated the price of drugs purchased by federal health-care programs. The pharmaceutical company said the latest settlement resolves suits filed in recent years against it by individuals, health plans and six states. The states are New York, Connecticut, Nevada, Arizona, Montana and California. Glaxo said 34 other states and the District of Columbia will also be eligible to receive funds from the settlement. The suits allege London-based Glaxo inflated the average wholesale price of its medicines as far back as the early 1990s. Many insurers and government health plans reimburse doctors and pharmacies for medicines based on the stated average wholesale price. Glaxo spokeswoman Mary Ann Rhyne said her company was admitting no wrongdoing but settled the cases to put the matter behind it. The cost of the settlement is covered by Glaxo's legal reserves, the drugmaker said. "Similar claims have also been made against many other pharmaceutical companies" which have not yet reached settlements, she said Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said in a statement the new settlement will provide restitution to consumers who suffered from a "decade-long company scheme to inflate the price of two cancer drugs," Zofran and Kytril. The drugs are used to treat nausea caused by chemotherapy. Kytril was divested by Glaxo when it merged with SmithKline Beecham in late 2000, Rhyne said. From its earlier $150 million settlement with federal health-care programs, $26 million was earmarked for whistle-blowers who prompted the investigation and another $10 million for state governments.
