Attorney General Announces Multi-State $700 Million Settlement with Drug Distributor

Attorney General James announced that a multi-state settlement has been reached with the pharmaceutical distributor Reckitt Benckiser Group (“Reckitt”) to settle allegations that the company improperly marketed and promoted the drug Suboxone, resulting in improper expenditure of state Medicaid funds. Reckitt will pay $700 million to the settle the allegations. As part of the agreement, New York’s Medicaid program will receive more than $71.9 million in total recoveries, with more than $39.9 million being returned to New York State. Reckitt had been accused of promoting off label use, making false and misleading claims, and fraudulently delaying entry of generic competition.

Attorney General James said:

“Pharmaceutical companies have a basic duty to ensure that they are properly disclosing and marketing powerful drugs. Reckitt misled the public about the real impacts of Suboxone and encouraged physicians to wrongly prescribe it, while cheating New York out of tens of millions of dollars in the process. No company is above the law and we will continue to take on anyone who takes advantage of the opioid crisis to increase their bottom line.”