McKesson in $190 mln False Claims Act settlement

April 26 (Reuters) - McKesson Corp, a large U.S. drug wholesaler, has agreed to pay more than $190 million to settle claims that it violated the federal False Claims Act by reporting inflated pricing information for many prescription drugs, causing Medicaid to overpay for those drugs.

The settlement was announced Thursday by U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman in New Jersey. McKesson did not admit liability in agreeing to settle.

According to the government, McKesson reported inflated pricing data to First DataBank, a publisher of drug prices that most state Medicaid programs use to set payment rates for pharmaceutical products.

Fishman said state governments may negotiate separately with McKesson to resolve claims based on their individual shares of the Medicaid overpayments.