Settlements Bring in Over $1M to State Medicaid Program

Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller is co-chair of the Indiana Protection for Abused and Trafficked Humans (IPATH) Task Force.

The office of Attorney General Greg Zoeller says two whistleblower settlements will net the state Medicaid program more than $1 million. To date this year, the Medicaid Fraud Unit has recovered a total of over $26 million.

The bulk of the latest settlement, more than $600,000 is from drug manufacturer Novartis for a lawsuit involving illegal kickbacks for pharmacies. The remainder involves alleged rebate overcharges for Hoosiers by AstraZeneca and Cephalon.

Zoeller says "whistleblower lawsuits help bring to light ineligible billings and overcharges, and are an effective legal tool Indiana uses to recover public funds that belong to the Indiana Medicaid program in its important work of providing prescription drug coverage for low-income Hoosiers. We applaud the courage of private whistleblowers who bring such lawsuits that states join."