Bayer Reportedly to Settle Drug Price Suit

Bayer Pharmaceuticals, a U.S.-based unit of Bayer, Germany’s biggest drug maker, tentatively agreed to pay $14 million to settle an investigation into whether it inflated Medicaid drug prices, a person familiar with the agreement told Bloomberg News. More than a dozen drug makers have been subpoenaed in the 3-year-old Justice Department investigation into Medicaid and Medicare pricing. A 1997 inspector general report said Medicare paid about $450 million too much for 22 prescription drugs in 1996 because of reliance on industry pricing lists. Tim Terry, president of the National Assn. of Medicaid Fraud Control Units, confirmed the tentative settlement but wouldn’t disclose the financial terms or details. The tentative agreement would settle a lawsuit that accuses Bayer of defrauding federal and state governments by inflating the drug prices, the person familiar with the agreement said.