AUSTIN - Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has wrested another settlement from a Big Pharma drug company over a Medicaid-mispricing lawsuit.

Abbott announced Friday that pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline would pay $1.4 million to clear away allegations that related companies overcharged the state for three prescription drugs between 1994 and 2002. The company has already paid the federal government its share of the total $2.8 million agreement.

The settlement charged that GlaxoSmithKline overstated the market value of Kytril, Zofran and Amoxil to the Texas Medicaid program. The state then reimbursed GlaxoSmithKline customers - mostly pharmacies - more than the drugs originally cost them from the supplier.

"Although the law requires drug manufacturers to accurately report market prices, this defendant unlawfully charged the taxpayers inflated prices for its products," Abbott stated.

Abbott's announcement of the GlaxoSmithKline settlement will likely cheer Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller. Miller announced last month that he had sued 78 different drugmakers - including GlaxoSmithKline - on similar charges of ripping off state Medicaid over inflated drug prices, LNL reported.

The Texas Attorney General's office has collected $190 million from its expanded Civil Medicaid Fraud Section and Medicaid Fraud Control Unit since Abbott's election, his release stated.