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Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. and Tris Pharma Inc. agreed Wednesday to pay $41.5 million to resolve explosive claims by the state of Texas that they supplied adulterated ADHD medication to children and manipulated test results to keep the drug on the market.

The settlement ends a high-stakes lawsuit accusing both companies of violating Texas’ healthcare fraud law—a case that state officials likened to a breach of public trust involving some of the state’s most vulnerable patients.

Texas Says Firms Altered Drug Tests

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said the companies knowingly provided substandard Quillivant XR, an ADHD medication prescribed to children on Medicaid.

The state’s 2023 lawsuit alleged that between 2012 and 2018, Pfizer and Tris Pharma quietly changed the drug’s testing methods, allowing Quillivant XR to skirt quality-control problems and pass regulatory review while failing manufacturing standards.

“I will never back down from taking on the biggest corporations in the world that deceive and take advantage of Texans,” Paxton said in a blistering statement. “Pfizer and Tris Pharma provided adulterated drugs to children for years and changed test results in order to obtain the benefit of taxpayer-funded Medicaid reimbursement.”

Allegations of Concealed Failures

According to the state, internal data showed Quillivant XR repeatedly failed quality tests linked to flawed manufacturing practices—yet the companies proceeded with distribution. Prosecutors argued that the firms misrepresented the drug’s condition when testifying before Texas Medicaid decision-makers, securing millions in reimbursements under false pretenses.

The suit, filed alongside whistleblower Tarik Ahmed, claimed the companies violated the Texas Medicaid Fraud Prevention Act, obtaining “virtually unfettered” reimbursement for a product they allegedly knew was compromised.

Pfizer Denies Wrongdoing

Pfizer responded by distancing itself from the controversy, calling the claims “historic allegations” tied to a drug it stopped marketing in 2018.

As part of the settlement, Pfizer admitted no liability, asserting it “never found any impact on the safety of the product for patients.”

“We are pleased to put this legacy matter behind us so that we can continue to focus on the needs of patients,” the company said. “Pfizer is deeply committed to the safety and well-being of the patients it serves.”

Representation

Texas is represented by Paige Cheung, Vivian Egbu, and Nadia Burns of the Texas Attorney General’s Office.

Pfizer and Tris Pharma are represented by George Valton Jones of the Val Jones Law Firm and Edward Burbach of Foley & Lardner LLP.