BATON ROUGE, LA - Attorney General Jeff Landry today announced a $13.5 million settlement with Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (BIPI) that will bring Louisiana $207,135.91. The settlement made between all 50 states and the District of Columbia solves allegations that BIPI engaged in unfair, deceptive, or misleading practices in its promotion of Micardis®, Aggrenox®, Atrovent®, and Combivent® by allegedly representing that the prescription drugs had sponsorship, approval, characteristics, ingredients, uses, benefits, quantities, or qualities that they did not have.

“In order for consumers to know the true benefits and risks of prescription drugs, pharmaceutical companies must relay correct information to the public,” said General Landry. “Like we have seen with opioid manufacturers – companies like BIPI who misrepresent their drugs’ effects jeopardize the health of consumers. So I am proud of my Public Protection Division for holding accountable those engaged in these practices.”

BIPI claimed that Aggrenox® was helpful for heart attacks and congestive heart failure and that it was superior to Plavix® though they had no evidence to substantiate that claim. They also claimed that Micardis® protected patients from early morning strokes and heart attacks and that Combivent® could be used as a first-line treatment for bronchospasms associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Lastly, they stated that Atrovent® and Combivent® could be used at doses that exceeded the maximum dosage recommendation in the product labeling and that they were essential for treatment of COPD.

In order to ensure BIPI is marketing and promoting their items accurately, the Consent Judgment requires BIPI to:

• Limit product sampling of the four drugs to health care providers whose clinical practice is consistent with the product labeling;
• Refrain from offering financial incentives for sales that may indicate off-label use of any of the four drugs;
• Ensure clinically relevant information is provided in an unbiased manner that is distinct from promotional materials; and
• Provide that requests for off-label information regarding any of the four drugs are referred to BIPI’s Medical Division.

A copy of the settlement may be found in “More Resources” on this page.

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