PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Susan Bair Purcell, Deputy Attorney General

Medicaid Fraud Control Unit 

Phone: (302) 577-8833

Date: April 4, 2005





DELAWARE RECEIVES RESTITUTION AND PENALTIES IN NATIONAL SETTLEMENT WITH WARNER-LAMBERT

Settlement Resolves Improper Off-Label Drug Marketing of Neurontin)



(Wilmington, DE): Attorney General Jane Brady today announced that Delaware has received restitution and penalties in the amount of $234,630 as part of a settlement with Warner-Lambert Company, LLC (Warner-Lambert). Pfizer, Inc. subsequently acquired Warner-Lambert and is now the world's largest pharmaceutical company. The settlement resolves allegations of deceptive "off-label" marketing of the drug Neurontin) for purposes other than an approved use. This case marks the first time that representatives of state Attorneys General Consumer Protection Units and the National Association of Medicaid Fraud Control Units (NAMFCU) jointly negotiated a case. Delaware Deputy Attorney General Susan Bair Purcell of the Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, was a member of the NAMFCU negotiating team.



Delaware's share of the settlement will return $119,758 in restitution and interest to the Department of Health and Social Services to reimburse Delaware's Medicaid program. The remaining amount represents penalties to the State of Delaware. 



Attorney General Brady stated, "This settlement reinforces that consumers should not be mislead about the proven capabilities of the medicines they take. I am pleased that my office was well represented on the negotiating team by Deputy Attorney General Susan Bair Purcell in this important, global settlement and that we were able to recover restitution for Delaware's Medicaid program."



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