Merck settles Mass. Medicaid fraud claims for $24M

[December 21, 2011]  BOSTON (AP) -- Drugmaker Merck & Co. will pay Massachusetts $24 million to settle a civil lawsuit accusing a former subsidiary of causing the state to overpay pharmacists for a widely used asthma medication.

Attorney General Martha Coakley said Tuesday that the deal with Merck and 12 other drugmakers who settled previously enables the state to recover more than $47 million for its Medicaid program.

The settlement comes more than a year after Merck said it would appeal a federal court verdict that found the company liable for about $4.6 million in compensatory damages related to pricing of three generic asthma products made by defunct Warrick Pharmaceuticals.

[Associated Press]

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