The Thousand Oaks biotech giant is being accused by the state of New York and 14 other states (CA included) of offering kickbacks to medical providers in order to increase sales of the company's anemia medicine, Aranesp (Amgen's third-biggest drug in 2008). Also sued were two units of AmerisourceBergen. The New York Attorney General's Office was the lead agency. From the Business Journal:

The lawsuit accuses the companies of encouraging medical providers to bill third party payers such as Medicaid for amounts of Aranesp that essentially were provided at no cost. The free product consisted of overfill amounts in the vials of Aranesp they received, the suit contends.

Amgen says the allegations are without merit. Aranesp has been losing sales since 2006 when high doses of the drug were linked to increased rates of heart attack and death in kidney patients.