By Gabe Bullard
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wuky/local-wuky-915489.mp3
FRANKFORT, Ky. – Kentucky is among several states to settle with drug manufacturer Johnson & Johnson in a marketing-related lawsuit.
The states sued the company alleging that the epilepsy drug Topamax was marketed to doctors as a treatment for other psychiatric conditions. The states were seeking to recoup Medicaid dollars spent on Topamax.
Johnson & Johnson will pay the states about $75 million, nearly $2 million of which will go to Kentucky. Attorney General spokesperson Allison Martin says the settlement is roughly twice what Kentucky's Medicaid program spent on the drug.
"Often times when we pursue a company like this it's not just for the amount that the Kentucky Medicaid program spent out of its pocket on the illegal marketing, but it also sends a message to these companies that that type of activity will not be tolerated in the Commonwealth of Kentucky."
All but 600,000 dollars of the settlement will go to the Kentucky Medicaid program, and the rest to the federal Medicaid system.