Minnesota Receives $10,000,000 in Drug Overpayment Case

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota has recovered more than $10 million in a settlement involving overpayments for medication used by low-income residents on public health care programs.

Attorney General Lori Swanson and previously sued pharmaceutical company Wyeth as part of a nationwide lawsuit that alleged the company had overbilled the state for the acid reflux medication Protonix.

The lawsuit alleged Wyeth had not offered Minnesota and other governments the same steep discounts for bundling drugs that it extended to other consumers. In some cases the company had cut prices by as much as 94 percent.

Wyeth is now owned by Pfizer Inc. Swanson's office announced Friday the state had recovered $10 million as part of the nationwide $785 million settlement.