In the ongoing battle over average wholesale pricing, Abbott Labs says its recently retired president and chief operating officer, Richard Gonzalez, shouldn’t be deposed unless he has “unique personal knowledge” of an issue relevant to the allegations that the drugmaker inflated prices to rip off Medicare, Health Law 360 reports. Abbott also claims other less intrusive means should be used to gain the info.

“The government has lately turned is attention to seeking the depositions of Abbott’s top corporate officers. This strategy is designed much to turn the heat up on Abbott than to serve any legitimate need for fact investigation,” according to a protective order filed last Friday, which we have read. The drugmaker maintains that Gonzalez wouldn’t have had direct knowledge of pricing decisions and doesn’t have any memory of AWP publications, the newsletter points out.

The drugmaker also argues that the law recognizes senior officials are suspectible to harassment and should be protected. As an example, Abbott ceo Miles White won’t be deposed - he’ll provide written responses to three “narrowly focused” questions, the filing states. Abbott is also upset that depositions are being sought for 10 former and current execs, including former ceo Duane Burnham, although has agreed to a few of the requests.

The government, which joined a case filed by Ven-A-Care, charges Abbott inflated by 1000 percent the AWP prices on several drugs, including Acyclovir, over a 10-year period between 1991 and 2001. The lawsuit is part of the multi-district litigation in federal court in Massachusetts.