A fresh legal storm is brewing in the Lone Star State — and this time, it centers on pharmaceutical heavyweight Sanofi SA.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed suit against the French drugmaker, accusing it of disguising financial incentives as support programs in order to sway healthcare providers toward prescribing its medications over competing treatments.
According to the complaint, Sanofi structured service offerings for medical providers in a way that effectively functioned as improper inducements, allegedly running afoul of the Texas Health Care Program Fraud Prevention Act. The state contends these programs crossed the line from patient assistance into unlawful influence.
Sanofi, however, is pushing back. The company maintains that its services are compliant with both federal and state law and are designed to improve patient outcomes — not steer prescribing behavior. It signaled it would contest the claims vigorously, dismissing the state’s move as unfounded.
Texas is seeking more than $1 million in monetary relief, including civil penalties, and is asking the court to bar the company from engaging in what it describes as unlawful conduct going forward.
This is not the first time Texas has squared off against major pharmaceutical players. The attorney general previously pursued action against Bristol-Myers Squibb over allegations tied to the blood thinner Plavix, and last year the state launched a similar lawsuit against Eli Lilly and Co. In that case, officials alleged improper inducements related to high-profile GLP-1 drugs, including Mounjaro and Zepbound.
The latest filing signals that Texas remains prepared to challenge drugmakers over how they market and promote their products — particularly when public healthcare funds may be in play.
