Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against French drugmaker Sanofi, accusing the company of offering improper incentives to healthcare providers to encourage prescriptions of its medications, according to Reuters.
The complaint alleges that Sanofi created programs that provided services to healthcare providers in ways that amounted to unlawful inducements. The attorney general’s office said those practices violated the Texas Health Care Program Fraud Prevention Act.
Paxton is seeking more than $1 million in monetary relief, including civil penalties. He is also asking the court to issue an injunction to halt any alleged unlawful conduct.
Sanofi rejected the allegations. In a statement cited by Reuters, the company said its services are structured to comply with federal and state laws and are designed to support patients rather than influence prescribing decisions.
“The state’s intervention has no bearing on the merits of this case, and Sanofi is zealously defending this litigation,” the company said.
The lawsuit marks the latest in a series of actions by the Texas attorney general targeting major pharmaceutical companies. Paxton previously sued Sanofi and Bristol-Myers Squibb over allegations that they failed to disclose that the blood thinner Plavix was less effective for certain patients.
In addition, Texas sued Eli Lilly last year, accusing the company of “bribing” providers to prescribe some of its top-selling medications, including the GLP-1 drugs Mounjaro and Zepbound.
The new case against Sanofi adds to ongoing legal scrutiny of drugmakers’ relationships with healthcare providers, particularly as states intensify enforcement efforts tied to prescription practices and public healthcare spending.