Missouri’s Medicaid fraud unit gets part of a big national settlement against the makers of the anti-pain drug, OxyContin. A federal prosecutor in Virginia and other federal and state law enforcement investigators nationwide have forced a 634-million dollar settlement with Purdue Pharma, a company accused of making false claims to health care providers about OxyContin. Missouri’s share is 5.8-million dollars.
The company was charged with claiming for a decade that OxyContin is less subject to abuse, is less addictive and less likely to cause withdrawal problems than other pain medications.
The state Medicaid fraud unit is part of Attorney General Nixon’s office. He says the most effective way for his staff to prosecute mead providers for fraud is often through pooled efforts with other states. He says it’s the only way to get through mountains of material and have enough muscle to act against the biggest providers.
Missouri won’t get to keep all 5.8-million dollars…More than 3.4-million dollars will reimburse the federal government for its share of state Medicaid funding.