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Tag: Prescription Drug Cost

What a Business Fraud Lawyer Can Do For You

Posted on by Mike Bothwell
Business Fraud Lawyer

Business Fraud LawyerBusiness fraud refers to a number of business practices that are deceitful and unlawful. Acts of fraud range from businesses using accounting practices that disguise their profits from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and to mislead investors to advertising non-existent features of a product to increase its sales potential. Some businesses have been found to use business and corporate funds for their own private enjoyment. Some of these cases make the news and involve prominent figures.

Business fraud has been broadly defined as when a “person or business intentionally deceives another with promises of goods, services, or financial benefits that do not exist, were never intended to be provided, or were misrepresented.”  Unfortunately, business fraud affects everyone. If you have been a victim of any of the following, a business fraud lawyer may be able to help.

  • Billed for services not received.
  • Billed for products not ordered.
  • Been overcharged for products or services.
  • Using a product that appeared safe when the manufacturer knew there were dangers to the use but kept those dangers secret.

The list could go on and on. There are certain elements you must prove in order to collect damages for the fraudulent acts of a business.

A business fraud lawyer will evaluate your situation and determine if you have a legal case

There are five things you must prove in order to win a business fraud case:

  • There was a false representation of fact.
  • The representation was made by a representative of the company or the company itself.
  • The person making the false representation knew at the time the representation was false.
  • The false statement was made for the purpose of inducing you to act or not act based on the content of the statement.
  • You suffered damages by relying on the false statement by acting or refraining from acting.

The false representations are not required to be made orally or in writing. A gesture, nod of the head or failure to provide information can all amount to an intentionally false or misleading statement.

It may seem easy to you. You simply know the business representative knew what he or she was telling you was false. The difficult thing to prove is that the person acted intentionally to deceive you and induce you to act. An experienced business fraud lawyer will know the questions to ask and information to obtain in order to prove business fraud occurred and the damages to which you are entitled to as a result.

If you believe you have been the victim of business fraud, or work for a company that engages in business fraud practices, contact a business fraud lawyer who will review the facts of your case and help you decide what to do next.

Prescription Drug Costs Rising

Posted on by Mike Bothwell
False Claims Act | SEC Whistleblower Claim

The Truth behind Exorbitant Prescription Drug Costs

Pharmaceutical companies claim that the tremendous costs of prescription drugs are due to the sheer amount of research and development that goes into creating them. However, there is more to it than that. Pharmaceutical companies have one primary goal: maximizing the value of the company to shareholders. Often, maximizing that value equates to Americans paying exorbitant prices for their prescription medication – and some of these medications keep people alive.

How It Works

Big-name pharmaceutical companies across the globe are jacking up the prices of necessary prescription medications for no other reason than to increase revenue. While the pharmaceutical industry is like any other in that a little competition is healthy for the end users of the medications, many companies have taken things to extremes. A company may buy a medication that it sees as undervalued, then raise the price by 100%, 200% or even as much as 500%. Aside from this, companies put a high price tag on new treatments and regularly raise the prices of older medications, too. While the shareholders may be happy about these changes, the people who need their medications to stay alive are often swimming in debt.

Valeant Leads the Industry in Price Hikes

The Canada-based company known as Valeant is perhaps the key player in the industry price hikes. Since early 2011, the company has raised the prices on its medications by at least 20% some 122 times. More recently, on February 10 of this year, the company purchased the rights to a pair of life-saving heart medications known as Isuprel and Nitropress. The day following the acquisition, Isuprel’s price rose 525% from $215.46 to a jaw-dropping $1,346.62 for a one-milliliter vial. Nitropress jumped 212% from an original price of $257.80 to an astonishing $805.61 for a two-milliliter vial.

Other Companies Following Suit

Another prime example is the acquisition of Cadence Pharmaceuticals by Mallinckrodt PLC. Mallinckrodt purchased the company in order to gain the rights to Ofermev, a pain injection they believed was significantly undervalued. Three months later, the price of the already expensive injection jumped 2 ½ times to $1,019.52 for 24 doses. Horizon, another common pharmaceutical company, purchased the rights for a pain tablet known as Vimovo from the well-known AstraZeneca in 2013. Horizon sold Vimovo for the first time on Jan. 1, 2014 at a price 597% more than the original cost, which was $959.04 for 60 tablets.

Even generic drug prices are rising. Doxycycline, the most commonly used malaria treatment in the world today, has increased from an average price of $20 for 500 tablets to a whopping $1800 for the same amount. The drug is readily available in other countries for $40, which is a testament to corporate greed in the North American pharmaceutical industry. These prices not only take a huge toll on the average consumer, but they drive up the costs of health insurance programs, too.