NY Ins L § 111 (2021)
2021 New York Laws ISC - Insurance Article 1 - General Provisions 111 - Investigation by the Superintendent With Respect to Prescription Drugs.

§   111.   Investigation   by   the  superintendent  with  respect  to prescription drugs. (a) Whenever it shall appear to the  superintendent, either  upon complaint or otherwise, that in the advertisement, purchase or  sale  within  this  state  of  any  prescription  drug,   which   is contemplated  to  be  paid  by  a  policy approved by the department for offering within the state, has increased over the course of  any  twelve months by more than fifty percent to an amount greater than five dollars per   unit  and  if  it  is  suspected  that  any  person,  partnership, corporation, company, trust or association, or  any  agent  or  employee thereof,  shall  have  employed,  or  employs, or is about to employ any device, scheme or artifice to defraud or for obtaining money or property by means of any false pretense, representation or promise, or  that  any person,  partnership, corporation, company, trust or association, or any agent or employee thereof, shall have made, makes or  attempts  to  make within  or  from this state or shall have engaged in or engages in or is about to engage in any practice or transaction  or  course  of  business relating  to the purchase, exchange, or sale of prescription drugs which is fraudulent or in violation of law and which  has  operated  or  which would  operate  as  a  fraud  upon  the  purchaser, or that any agent or employee thereof, has sold or offered for sale or is attempting to  sell or  is  offering  for sale any prescription drug for which the price has increased fifty percent over  the  prior  calendar  year  to  an  amount greater  than  five dollars per unit, and the superintendent believes it to be in the public interest that an investigation be made,  he  or  she may  in  their  sole  discretion  either  require or permit such person, partnership, corporation, company, trust or association, or any agent or employee thereof, to file with the department  a  statement  in  writing under oath or otherwise as to all the facts and circumstances concerning the  price  increase  which  he  or  she believes it to be in the public interest to investigate, and for that purpose may prescribe  forms  upon which such statements shall be made. The superintendent may also require such  other  data and information as he or she may deem relevant and may make such special and independent investigations as he or she  may  deem necessary in connection with the matter.  (b) In addition to any other power granted by law, the superintendent, his  or  her deputy or other officer designated by the superintendent is empowered to subpoena witnesses, compel their attendance,  examine  them under oath and require the production of any books or papers which he or she  deems  relevant  or material to the inquiry. Such power of subpoena shall be enforced as though the subpoena were issued under section three hundred six of the financial services law.  (c)  If  any  person,  partnership,  corporation,  company,  trust  or association,  fails  to  submit  a  written  statement  required  by the superintendent under subsection (a) of this section or fails  to  comply with  a  subpoena issued pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, the superintendent may, after notice and a hearing, levy a civil penalty not to exceed to one thousand dollars per day that the failure continues.  (d) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, any information  obtained in  an  investigation under this section shall be confidential and shall not be subject to disclosure  by  the  department  except  to  the  drug accountability   board,   which  may  review  the  information  and,  as necessary,  include  any   such   information   in   its   report.   The superintendent  may  also  disclose  any  such  information necessary to protect the public, but such disclosures shall to  the  greatest  extent possible  not  identify  a  specific  manufacturer or prices charged for drugs by such manufacturer.