CVS to settle Medicaid claims

CVS Caremark Corp. agreed to pay almost $37 million to nearly two dozen states and the federal government to settle claims that the nation’s largest pharmacy chain billed Medicaid programs for a more expensive form of an antacid, authorities said.

The settlement came after an investigation that began in 2001, when a suburban Chicago pharmacist told authorities.

Attorneys said the chain gave Medicaid patients capsules of Ranitidine, a generic version of the heartburn medication Zantac, instead of even less expensive tablets.