An Alabama jury returned a 78.4 million dollar verdict on Tuesday February 24, 2009, against the drug manufacturer Sandoz, a subsidiary of Novartis. The Alabama lawsuit was one of more than 70 lawsuits that have been brought on behalf of the state of Alabama against various drug manufacturers. The Alabama lawsuits center around Average Wholesale Prices (AVP) that drug manufacturers were posting that were much higher than the prices doctors and pharmacists were actually paying for the drugs. Essentially, the state of Alabama is claiming that these drug manufacturers were committing a fraud upon Alabama’s Medicaid program by having the state pay an average wholesale price for a drug that was actually being sold at a much cheaper rate. [Read more…] about Alabama Jury Returns $78.4 Million Judgment Against Drug Manufacturer