Mo. receives $622K in national Medicaid settlement

Missouri will receive $622,450 in restitution as part of a nationwide Medicaid settlement to the tune of $31 million.

The settlement resolves allegations that Oss, Netherlands-based drug manufacturer Organon underpaid rebates, offered improper financial incentives to nursing home pharmacy companies, promoted antidepressants for unapproved uses and misrepresented drug prices. The settlement resulted from two whistleblower lawsuits against Organon, the assets of which are now owned by New Jersey-based Merck & Co. Inc., according to a news release from the Missouri attorney general's office.

The lawsuits alleged Organon didn't include rebates and discounts in its best-price reporting, which resulted in underpaid rebates owed to Missouri's Medicaid program.

The Show-Me State's Medicaid program also was hurt by alleged kickbacks, in which Organon allegedly offered nursing home pharmacy companies market-share discounts and rebates to encourage the use of Remeron and Remeron SolTab over competing antidepressants, the release said.

Organon was accused of promoting the sale and use of Remeron and Remeron SolTab for off-label uses not approved by the Food and Drug Administration, including promoting side effects as benefits and promoting the use of Remeron in children and adolescents.

The company also allegedly reported false and inflated prices to Missouri's Medicaid program and then offered drugs at a lower cost to home pharmacy companies, increasing the amount of reimbursements to the company from the state's program, according to the release.

“This company intentionally marketed these drugs for medical conditions for which they were not approved and cheated the Medicaid program out of money,” Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster said in the release. “Missouri will continue to protect Missouri consumers by holding companies that engage in this type of unlawful behavior responsible.”[[In-content Ad]]