Wisconsin will get $5 million in national fraud lawsuit against Pfizer Inc.

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Wisconsin will get $5 million in the settlement of a national lawsuit against the drug maker Pfizer Inc.

Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen announced the settlement Wednesday.

Pfizer agreed to pay a total of $2.3 billion to settle allegations that it promoted the anti-inflammatory drug Bextra for uses the FDA did not approve.

And the government accused Pfizer of giving illegal kickbacks to doctors and other health professionals to promote Bextra and a dozen other medications, including Viagra and Lipitor.

Bextra was taken off the market in 2005, and the settlement is connected with nine cases filed in various federal courts.

Wisconsin was a party in five of those cases. Nationally, the drug company’s settlement includes a $1 billion to compensate Medicaid, Medicare and other government health programs.

Fines and forfeitures total another $1.3 billion.

Tags: wisconsin, pfizer, lawsuit