Mass. To Receive $35M From Drug Maker Fine

The state's Medicaid fund will receive more than $35 million as part of a record national settlement with a drug maker.

As the Associated Press reports:

The Justice Department says GlaxoSmithKline will pay $3 billion and plead guilty to promoting two popular drugs for unapproved uses and to failing to report important safety data about a diabetes drug to the Food and Drug Administration.

It's the country's largest-ever health care fraud settlement, according to state Attorney General Martha Coakley's office.

The AP details the allegations:

Prosecutors say GSK encouraged use of Paxil for children although it was not approved for anyone under 18. The company also promoted Wellbutrin for uses besides major depressive disorder, its only approved use. They say that between 2001 and 2007 GSK failed to report on two studies of the cardiovascular safety of Avandia, a diabetes drug.

"When companies like GlaxoSmithKline make huge profits from marketing these drugs for purposes that aren't approved by the FDA, they both cost taxpayers money and they put public safety at risk," Coakley told our Newscast unit.