Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. last week announced that it is conducting an internal review of its marketing practices to see if the company violated anti-kickback laws, as well as kept money from Medicaid programs.
The pharmaceutical giant is already under several different investigations from the attorney generals for states such as California, Florida and Massachusetts for its marketing strategies. Earlier this year, Bristol-Myers agreed to pay $670 million to settle charges that it prevented generic versions of its BuSpar anxiety drug from coming to market.
Bristol-Myers, New York City, has already admitted that it persuaded wholesalers to order more of the company’s products than they could sell to artificially inflate profit, prompting an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
For the first six months of 2003, Bristol-Myers reported a sales increase of 11% to $9.8 billion. The company says that it cannot predict what impact its internal investigation may have on its financials.
Pharmaceutical companies are feeling the heat. Last month, Schering-Plough announced that the Massachusetts U.S. Attorney’s Office was conducting a federal grand jury investigation of its sales, marketing and clinical practices (Xtra, June 3).
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