January 10, 2014

Attorney General George Jepsen, Chief State’s Attorney Kevin T. Kane and Department of Social Services (DSS) Commissioner Roderick L. Bremby today announced that Connecticut has joined with other states and the federal government in a global settlement with CareFusion Corporation to resolve allegations of unlawful marketing practices in promoting the sale of Chloraprep, a surgical preparation solution.

CareFusion, a corporation spun off from Cardinal Health in 2009, allegedly promoted and marketed their surgical preparation solution for uses that were not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and for uses that were not medically indicated. 

The states contend that during the period of September 1, 2009, through August 31, 2011, CareFusion promoted Chloraprep for off-label uses; made false and misleading statements about the uses for Chloraprep and paid illegal kickbacks to the physician-owner of an entity known as Health Care Concepts, Inc. to promote and induce providers to use Chloraprep.

The states further contend that CareFusion’s alleged unlawful conduct caused false and fraudulent claims to be submitted to or caused purchases by government funded health care programs, including the state Medicaid programs.

CareFusion agreed to pay the states and the federal government $40.1 million to resolve the allegations, including approximately $8 million for state Medicaid programs. The portion of the settlement attributable to the state and federal shares of Connecticut’s Medicaid Program is $135,433, of which $76,859 represents the net state share.

“Improper marketing of drugs that violated approved uses leads to fraudulent and false claims against our Medicaid programs and ultimately puts patients at risk,” said Attorney General Jepsen. “We take allegations of fraud or abuse very seriously, and we will continue to work to hold accountable those who seek to defraud our taxpayers. I thank the Chief State’s Attorney and the Department of Social Services for their continued partnership in these matters.”

Chief State’s Attorney Kane expressed his appreciation to the Office of the Attorney General and the Department of Social Services for their continued collaboration in this and other cases to detect fraud and prevent the abuse of government programs and waste of tax dollars.

DSS Commissioner Bremby said, “While the dollar amount coming to the state is small compared to other actions, this settlement is important because it’s yet another indication of the need for constant vigilance in safeguarding public health programs. We appreciate the work of the Attorney General’s Office and Chief State’s Attorney’s Office in collective efforts to hold this entity accountable.”

Anyone with knowledge of suspected fraud or abuse in the health care system is asked to contact the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit in the Office of the Chief State's Attorney at 860-258-5986 or by email at conndcj@ct.gov ; the Attorney General's Antitrust and Government Program Fraud Department at 860-808-5040 or by email at thomas.martin@ct.gov.; or the DSS fraud reporting hotline at 1-800-842-2155 or by email at providerfraud.dss@ct.gov.

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