McKesson Drug Price Settlement Is $190 Million

Drug wholesaler McKesson Corp. has settled charges against it, agreeing to pay more than $190 million for government claims that it reported inflated drug prices that caused federal government – specifically Medicaid – to overpay for drugs.

McKesson put out the same press release that goes out in every single one of these cases:

We did not manipulate drug prices and did not violate any laws. However, when we weighed our conviction that we did not violate any laws against the inherent uncertainty of litigation, we determined that this settlement was in the best interest of our employees, customers, suppliers and shareholders.

The government should do something about this. These settlements always come with this “we did nothing wrong” language. I think this makes it harder for other companies to truly learn the lessons of these cases. If there is a real dispute as to liability, the government should try the case and let the jury decide what really happened.