Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has reached a $7.5 million settlement with Tris Pharmaceuticals over allegations that the company misrepresented the effectiveness of an ADHD medication marketed for children.
The agreement resolves claims that Tris Pharma misled Texas Medicaid providers about Dyanavel XR, a drug prescribed to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in pediatric patients, according to a press release announced by the Office of the Attorney General on Thursday.
Paxton originally filed suit against Tris Pharma and its chief executive, Ketan Mehta, in 2023. The lawsuit followed an investigation that alleged the company carried out a scheme to defraud the Texas Medicaid program through false and misleading statements about the drug.
According to the attorney general’s office, Tris Pharma overstated how well Dyanavel XR worked and instructed its sales representatives to tell doctors, including Texas Medicaid providers, that the medication acted significantly faster than competing drugs and offered additional unproven benefits for children. Those claims were made during thousands of sales calls, the office said.
Under the settlement, Tris Pharma will pay $7.5 million to the state of Texas.
“Tris Pharma is now paying millions of dollars for misleading folks about ADHD drugs being prescribed to children,” Paxton said. “Pharmaceutical companies that distort the truth to sell their products will face the consequences. I will continue using every tool available to protect Texas children, safeguard taxpayer dollars, and hold Big Pharma accountable.”
The settlement document states that the agreement is the result of a compromise between the defendants and plaintiffs on “disputed issues of fact,” noting that both sides had a mutual desire to settle the matter amicably and avoid the expense and inconvenience of protracted litigation.
The agreement also notes that the defendants have defenses to the plaintiff’s claims and “expressly deny any and all liability and allegations of wrongdoing.”
