Tuesday, October 26, 2010

NC News: More Details on Medicaid Settlement

The Winston Salem Journal has an excellent break down on the $3.5 million Medicaid settlement.

N.C. Medicaid to get $3.5M
By RICHARD CRAVER | JOURNAL STAFF REPORT
Published: October 24, 2010

Raleigh, N.C. --
The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services says that the state Medicaid division will get more than $3.5 million from recent agreements with five pharmaceutical manufacturers to settle cases of kickbacks.

The five settlements total nearly $17.5 million. The federal government, which pays about 70 percent of N.C. Medicaid expenses, received most of the restitution.

The largest settlement was with AstraZenaca PLC for $13.8 million. N.C. Medicaid received about $2.4 million in restitution and interest, and the state’s public schools received $2.35 million in penalties.

Other pharmaceutical companies’ settlements with N.C. Medicaid are:

• $839,058 from Omnicare for a range of false-claims violations arising from its dealings with various nursing-home chains and drug manufacturers.

• $105,454 from Alpharma, the manufacturer of Kadian, for paying for resort trips for health-care providers. .

• $137,631 from IVAX Pharmaceuticals, a manufacturer of generics, for its dealings with Omnicare.

• $30,360 from Novartis, the manufacturer of TOBI, for alleged encouragement of off-label prescribing.

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