Government
Drugmakers must keep price records for 10 years
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Jan. 17, 2005
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has published a final rule requiring drug manufacturers participating in the Medicaid rebate program to hold onto pricing records for at least 10 years. Drugmakers who sell their products to Medicaid must give the program their lowest rebated price under federal statute. But federal and state governments recover hundreds of millions of dollars a year from companies that charge Medicaid too much.
"Before this new rule was issued, there was no permanent requirement for manufacturers to keep their pricing records for any length of time," said CMS Administrator Mark B. McClellan, MD, PhD. The rule, which became effective as of Jan. 1, will aid the agency in its antifraud efforts, he said.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2005/01/17/gvbf0117.htm.
