The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that Medisca Inc. has agreed to pay $21.75 million to resolve allegations concerning the establishment of false and inflated Average Wholesale Prices (AWPs) for two ingredients used in compound prescriptions.

According to the DOJ, Medisca acquired resveratrol from manufacturers for approximately $0.37 per gram, then repackaged and sold it for under $2.00 per gram. However, Medisca reported an AWP for resveratrol at $777 per gram, creating a spread of over $775 for each gram of resveratrol used by a pharmacy customer in a compound prescription reimbursed by federal healthcare programs.

The DOJ also stated that Medisca acquired mometasone furoate from manufacturers for under $8 per gram, repackaged and sold that ingredient to compound pharmacies for over $1,000 per gram, and then reported an AWP for mometasone furoate at over $7,300 per gram, thereby creating a spread of approximately $6,300 for each gram of the ingredient used by a pharmacy customer in a compound prescription reimbursed by federal healthcare programs. 

Medisca’s alleged fraudulent pricing scheme enabled its pharmacy customers to bill federal healthcare programs inflated amounts – often thousands of dollars per prescription – for compound formulations containing those ingredients.