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Hawaii is getting a share of a $71 million settlement from drug manufacturer Amgen Inc. The state said Tuesday it will receive roughly $800,000 as part of a settlement with 48 other state law enforcement agencies and Washington, D.C.
The settlement with Amgen resolves allegations that the company unlawfully promoted and mislabeled so-called biologic medications Aranesp and Enbrel. Biologics are a type of treatment made from living things, including plant or animal cells.
Aranesp is a prescription medicine used to treat a lower-than-normal number of red blood cells (anemia); Enbrel is a prescription medicine that decreases a certain protein produced by the immune system to treat rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis and plaque psoriasis.
The state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs said the company violated state consumer protection laws by promoting Aranesp for dosing frequencies longer than the Federal Drug Administration-approved label; promoting Aranesp for anemia caused by cancer without having FDA approval or competent and reliable scientific evidence to support it; and promoting Enbrel for mild plaque psoriasis even though the drug is approved to treat only chronic moderate to severe plaque psoriasis.