Attorney General Richard Blumenthal announced today that GlaxoSmithKline will pay Connecticut $1.72 million to settle allegations it sold tainted and defective drugs to the state Medicaid program.

            The payment is part of a nationwide $750 million settlement.

            GlaxoSmithKline allegedly sold Medicaid, whose cost is shared by the federal government and the states, four drugs that were defective or contaminated because of poor manufacturing practices at the company’s Cidra, Puerto Rico plant.

            “GlaxoSmithKline’s dumping of defective drugs on Connecticut Medicaid recipients is shocking and shameful,” Blumenthal said. “Such massive failure to follow formulation and sanitation standards is unacceptable and inexplicable. The company endangered patient health -- and pumped up profits -- by providing tainted tablets.”

            The four tainted drugs were:

·         Paxil CR: A controlled-release antidepressant improperly formulated so recipients received no active ingredient or only the active ingredient without the controlled-release mechanism;                                            

·         Avandamet: A diabetes medication containing higher or lower amounts of the active ingredient than specified;

·         Kytril:    An anti-nausea drug labeled as sterile, but with some vials containing impurities;

·         Bactroban: Antibiotic ointments and creams that, in some packages, were contaminated with microorganisms.