Pfizer copay program violates anti-kickback law, court rules

The pharmaceutical company Pfizer is not permitted to pay Medicare beneficiaries’ out-of-pocket costs for one of its medications, a federal appeals court ruled Monday.

The Health and Human Services Department previously declared a proposed copay program for Pfizer’s $225,000-a-year heart medication tafamidis, also known as Vyndaqel and Vyndamax, isn’t allowed under the federal Anti-Kickback Statute. A federal district court sided with the…