Attorney General demands Pfizer pay $212 million in price case

Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen wants a prescription drug company to pay about $212 million for inflating prices, according to the Associated Press. Former Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager filed a lawsuit in 2004 accusing 36 drug companies of inflating wholesale prices. A Dane County jury ruled in February that Pfizer subsidiary Pharmacia Inc., violated the state''s Medicaid fraud law more than 1.4 million times over a decade. Van Hollen asked Dane County Circuit Judge Richard Niess to impose a sliding scale of forfeitures that increase over time. He also asked for an injunction requiring Pharmacia to report truthful prices. Pfizer spokesman Chris Loder says Van Hollen''s demand is excessive. He says the company has acted appropriately and the facts will show no forfeitures are warranted.