Here's Why Teva Pharmaceutical Fell as Much as 15.4% Today
Shares of Teva Pharmaceutical (NYSE: TEVA) fell over 15% today, after the United States government revealed a lawsuit against the drugmaker, accusing it of defrauding Medicare using kickbacks to increase sales of Copaxone.
According to Reuters, the lawsuit alleges the drugmaker illegally made $300 million in donations to two charitable foundations from 2006 to 2015 to cover the rising cost of the multiple sclerosis drug. The kickbacks reduced the expense of co-payments, which are supposed to provide a downward pressure on drug prices. The U.S. government argues the practice resulted in taxpayers footing the bill for rising drug prices.
As of 3:02 p.m. EDT, the pharma stock had settled to a 10.9% loss.
Source Fool.com