State of Texas v. Actavis Mid-Atlantic, LLC and Actavis Elizabeth, LLC

A Travis County jury today returned a record-setting verdict for damages, finding that drug manufacturer Actavis Mid-Atlantic, LLC misrepresented its drug prices to the taxpayer-funded Medicaid program. The jurors determined that Actavis and co-defendant Actavis Elizabeth, LLC should pay Texas and the federal government $170.3 million for defrauding Medicaid.

Since 2000, the Texas Attorney General's Civil Medicaid Fraud team has investigated multiple pharmaceutical manufacturers for their products' prices to the Medicaid program. The State's legal action against Actavis is one of those drug-pricing cases.

"Today's verdict makes clear that the Texas Attorney General's Office will hold Medicaid providers accountable for defrauding the taxpayers. I am grateful to the trial team for their hard work on this complex case,” Attorney General Greg Abbott said. "The verdict shows we will effectively use the legal system to retrieve any funds that pharmaceutical manufacturers and other providers improperly take from the Medicaid program.”

"The jury determined that the defendants owe $170 million because of improper drug price reporting,” Attorney General Abbott added. "Considering the hundreds of millions of dollars that are at stake, we will continue to vigilantly pursue providers that falsely report prices to Medicaid and defraud the taxpayers.”

The State's legal action against Actavis stems from a whistleblower lawsuit that was filed under seal by a small Florida-based pharmacy called Ven-a-Care. The pharmacy owners pursued their claim after discovering Actavis reported artificially inflated prices to Medicaid for its drugs.

Plaintiffs' verdict for $170.3 million.