Attorney General's News Release

August 31, 2006

Nixon presents Social Services with $235,000 check from Medicaid fraud settlement with GlaxoSmithKline

Jefferson City, Mo. — Attorney General Jay Nixon today presented the Missouri Department of Social Services with a check for $235,757 from a Medicaid fraud settlement with pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). The check reimburses the Missouri Medicaid program for overpayments made by Medicaid as a result of inaccurate drug prices reported by GSK.

The agreement, made in conjunction with a earlier settlement with the federal government, resolved concerns that GSK improperly inflated the prices it reported that drug purchasers paid for the injectable drugs Kytril and Zofran, which are used to treat nausea related to chemotherapy. The overpayment from the Medicaid program acted as an incentive for physicians and other drug purchasers reimbursed by Medicaid to use the GSK drugs, thus increasing the market share for those drugs, Nixon said.

“Many millions of dollars are paid each year from the Missouri Medicaid program in reimbursement for prescription drugs,” Nixon said. “We will continue to go after those who try to manipulate the system for their own means.”

Because of Missouri's participation in the settlements with GSK, an additional $270,000 also went to the reimburse the federal government for its share of the Medicaid costs.

Earlier this week, Nixon announced that Schering-Plough, the maker of the popular anti-allergy medication Claritin, will pay more than $7 million in a proposed Medicaid fraud settlement. That settlement resolves concerns that Schering-Plough's marketing and distribution practices of Claritin RediTabs and other drugs resulted in the Medicaid program paying too much in reimbursement in some cases and not receiving the full amount of rebates due in other cases.

The Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the Attorney General's Office, formed by Nixon in 1994, has authority under state law to investigate and prosecute, both civilly and criminally, allegations of fraud against Missouri's Medicaid Program. In 2005, the unit recovered more than $27 million for taxpayers in Medicaid fraud cases.

Inquiries from consumers should be directed to consumer@ago.mo.gov or 1-800-392-8222 (from within Missouri) or 573-751-3321 (outside Missouri).

All media inquiries should be directed to Press Secretary John Fougere.

E-mail      Phone: 573-751-8844         Fax: 573-751-5818