Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has secured a $41.5 million settlement from pharmaceutical giants Pfizer and Tris Pharma, which allegedly provided adulterated ADHD medication to children on Medicaid.
“I will never back down from taking on the biggest corporations in the world that deceive and take advantage of Texans,” said Paxton in a November 19 press release. “Pfizer and Tris Pharma provided adulterated drugs to children for years and changed test results in order to obtain the benefit of taxpayer-funded Medicaid reimbursement.”
The case centered on Quillivant XR, an ADHD medication prescribed to children. From 2012 to 2018, the companies allegedly manipulated testing methods to pass quality control standards.
Paxton initially filed the lawsuit in November 2023. The complaint accused both companies of knowingly distributing the drug despite repeated quality control failures.
According to the lawsuit, flawed manufacturing practices caused the medication to fail tests consistently. The companies allegedly altered testing procedures to circumvent regulatory requirements.
“Under my watch, Big Pharma will not escape justice for lying about the effectiveness of its drugs,” Paxton stated.
The settlement requires both companies to comply with all manufacturing and distribution laws. The $41.5 million payment resolves allegations under the Texas Health Care Program Fraud Prevention Act.