Pfizer Lawsuit Tests Crackdown on Drugmakers Picking Up Copays

A Pfizer Inc. challenge to an enforcement push against drug company and charity collaborations is testing the bounds of the government’s crackdown against illegal kickbacks and showcases the complexity of helping patients pay for high-cost medications.

Justice Department allegations that such arrangements are unlawful have netted the government more than $1 billion in settlements since 2017. Federal enforcers see them as attempts to defeat the cost-control function of Medicare’s copay mechanisms under the guise of charitable giving, and to gain an advantage over competitors’ drugs.

But a key issue in most enforcement actions is whether a charity providing copay assistance ...