After years of litigation, AstraZeneca (AZN) agreed to pay $110 million to settle allegations of illegally marketing two best-selling drugs and, subsequently, causing the Texas Medicaid program to overpay for the medicines.
The company was accused of promoting its Seroquel antipsychotic for treating children and teenagers when the drug was not approved for that population, and paying kickbacks to two former state hospital doctors so they would prescribe the pill. AstraZeneca was also accused of marketing its Crestor cholesterol pill for unapproved uses and downplaying risk of diabetes in some patients.
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