Pfizer agrees to $785M settlement in drug discount case

BOSTON (AP) - Federal prosecutors say drugmaker Pfizer Inc. has agreed to pay nearly $785 million to resolve allegations that one of its companies failed to give Medicaid the same discounts it provided to private purchasers of a heartburn treatment.

The deal reached tentatively in February and finalized on Wednesday centered on Wyeth's practices related to rebates on Protonix sales between 2001 and 2006. Pfizer acquired Wyeth in 2009.

The U.S. attorney's office in Boston says Wyeth gave thousands of hospitals deep discounts on two versions of Protonix, but failed to report those prices to the government as required by law so Medicaid can receive the same discounts.

New York-based Pfizer says in a statement that it's pleased to have finalized the agreement and now wants to focus on the needs of patients.