Lake Forest, Ill.-based pharmaceutical company Akorn Operating Co. agreed to pay $7.9 million to resolve allegations it caused Medicare Part D to pay for three generic drugs that were no longer eligible for coverage.
Medicare Part D reimburses for "prescription only" drugs and does not reimburse for over-the counter-drugs, the Justice Department said in a Sept. 14 news release. Akorn admitted it delayed seeking the required conversions of three of its generic drugs from prescription only to over-the-counter status and continued to sell newly manufactured units of those drugs under the obsolete "prescription only" labeling.
Allegations were originally brought through a whistleblower complaint, according to the release. The whistleblower will receive $946,000 of the settlement money.