The French pharmaceutical company Sanofi-Aventis has agreed to pay $190 million to settle allegations of fraud in the pricing and marketing of Anzement, a drug used for cancer treatment side effects.

A lawsuit against Sanofi-Aventis alleged that by inflating the price of Anzement, the giant drug company increased the cost of federal reimbursements and resulted in false claims to federal health programs.

The case arose from a lawsuit filed under the false claims act by Ven-A-Care of the Florida Keys, Inc. The U.S. Attorney in Miami, R. Alexander Acosta, observed:

“Corporations can not continue to mislead the government into paying vastly exaggerated prices by exhorting a health-care system based on trust and fair play.”

We constantly see where corporations doing business with the federal government commit fraud and cheat the American taxpayers. Mr. Beasley still believes that we need to get much tougher on the cheaters and especially those who are repeaters.