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Bloomberg
Pfizer Inc. said that it received two subpoenas from the US Attorney’s office in Massachusetts related to charities that help Medicare patients afford co-payments for drugs, the latest company to disclose involvement in the probe.
The New York-based drugmaker said in a securities filing that it received subpoenas on December 2015 and on July 2016 requesting documents related to the Patient Access Network Foundation and other organizations that provide financial assistance to Medicare patients. Pfizer donated more than $10 million to the PAN Foundation in 2016, according to a report on its website dated December 19, 2016, including for funds related to kidney cancer and a hormone disorder known as acromegaly.
“Pfizer is among a number of companies that have received subpoenas regarding this matter,†spokeswoman Neha Wadhwa said in
an e-mail. Margaret Figley, a spokeswoman for the PAN Foundation, said in an e-mail that the group fully cooperates with government requests for information.
A long list of drugmakers have now received subpoenas about their relationships with patient assistance charities, some related to how they help people in the Medicare drug program for the elderly afford the co-payments for drugs.