Feds Want Share of W.Va. Settlement

The federal government says West Virginia owes it more than $4.1 million from the settlement of a 2004 settlement with the maker of the powerful painkiller OxyContin, The Associated Press reports.

Because the federal government helps fund the state Medicaid program, it argues it deserves a share as the lawsuit aimed to recoup money improperly spent covering OxyContin prescriptions.

The lawsuit alleged Purdue Pharma failed to disclose the drug's addictive nature while promoting the drug to doctors and the public. State Attorney General Darrell McGraw settled the case for $10 million. Among other beneficiaries, proceeds since have gone to alternative sentencing programs for nonviolent offenders.