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KEYCODE BAYER #24

$14 MILLION FINE FOR MEDICAID FRAUD

"The Medicaid program was set up to provide the poor with medical treatment, not to make doctors or drug companies richer" announced David W. Ogden, US Justice Ministry attorney. Since BAYER was among a number of pharmaceutical companies exploiting the system and had carried out extensive frauds of the social support scheme, the corporation has been ordered to pay a fine of $14 million. The chemical multi based near Cologne in Germany set the list prices for drugs such as KOGENATE; KOATE- and GAMIMMUNE at exorbitantly high levels, but billed hospitals, doctors and pharmacies at much lower prices. They in turn were able to put part of the Medicaid refunds in their own pockets and were thus won over as grateful BAYER customers. Drug companies who stuck to the rules on pricing were squeezed out of this market. As an official commission of enquiry discovered, the drug giant also defrauded the Medicaid scheme, by granting discounts based on an excessive "most favorable" shop price.

CIPROBAY READY FOR MILITARY APPLICATIONS

Bacteria causing anthrax form part of the arsenal of biological weapons. The US Food & Drug Authority approved the Bayer antibiotic CIPROBAY as an antidote to anthrax. Even though this may only be a defensive weapon, the chemical multi, in developing CIPROBAY for such a purpose, has entered the arms race and may well accelerate the development of even more deadly instruments of death. Whether BAYER is supplying the armies of western countries with deadly bacteria for military purposes is not known. But the fact that each and every one of the chemical multis refused UN controllers access to their laboratories points clearly to this conclusion. The Bayer group, furthermore, is well-known for its proven experience as army suppliers. This ranges from the First World War to the export of materials suitable for the manufacture of chemical weapons to Iraq.