Abbott Labs has accused the Department of Justice of failing to preserve 12 years’ worth of evidence in a massive case about whether drug companies artificially inflated the price of drugs. In short, the government is claiming that pharmaceutical companies sold drugs directly to physicians at a rate below government reimbursement rates for the drugs. The physicians would then charge government agencies the allowed reimbursement rate, in effect providing a profit or "kickback" to the physicians.
Abbott’s motion states
DOJ kept the lawsuit under seal for more than eleven years, conducting one-sided discovery against Abbott, but did nothing to preserve evidence in its own possession or control. Not a single litigation hold order was issued. Not a single agency was told to preserve evidence. Abbott is looking for sanctions including elimination of claims where there is no data. Among the missing data are every single email from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services ("CMS") prior to September 2005: In September 2005, CMS changed its email program, but made no effort to retain relevant emails. The result was a massive destruction of potentially relevant emails, even as CMS purported to respond to a subpoena.
For a copy of the motion click here: Download In Re Pharmaceutical Industry - Abbott Lab Spoliation Motion 06-04-09.
For news about the allegations of spoliation and failure to implement a legal hold click here: http://tiny.cc/iXb2q.
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