Pfizer Defeats Class Claims Over Alleged Patient-Steering Scheme

Companies that collect overpayments on behalf of private insurers that administer Medicaid and Medicare programs can’t bring a potential class suit against Pfizer Inc. for allegedly steering patients to its high-priced drugs.

MSP Recovery Claims, Series LLC and four others didn’t have standing to sue the drugmaker because they couldn’t show that the insurers validly assigned them claims arising out of payments made to Pfizer between 2012 and 2016, the US District Court for the District of Columbia said. The court dismissed the complaint without prejudice.

Several patient-steering cases have arisen over the past few years, most of which allege ...