Drug maker to pay state $300,000

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Indiana will receive almost $300,000 as part of a settlement with a pharmaceutical company in a lawsuit over its marketing of a pain-relief drug, Attorney General Greg Zoeller said Thursday.

Alphama Inc, will pay several state governments and the federal government more than $42.5 million as resolution to claims of false and fraudulent claims submitted to Medicaid.

"This lawsuit, originally filed by a whistleblower under the federal False Claims Act and later joined by Indiana and other states, demonstrates again that private individuals who are willing to expose kickbacks in the health care and pharmaceutical industries play a critical role in combating Medicaid fraud and recovering public funds for taxpayers," Zoeller said.

Alphama’s marketing of the drug Kadian, a morphine sulfate drug, is at the center of the suit. The lawsuit claimed that Alphama improperly persuaded doctors into prescribing the drug by paying them to participate in training, consulting forums, research grants and speakers’ bureaus.

The lawsuit also alleges that Alphama made false statements about the safety of Kadian.