Florida to Receive $5 Million in Abbott Labs Settlement

Florida stands to pick up nearly $5 million for future consumer protection efforts from a multistate and federal settlement with Abbott Laboratories over improperly misbranding the anti-seizure drug Depakote, the state attorney general's office announced.

Abbott, as part of an overall $1.6 billion settlement, admitted that despite credible scientific evidence, the drug was promoted in nursing homes for the treatment of dementia between 1998 and 2006, according to the U.S. Justice Department. The drug was also marketed as part of a schizophrenia treatment from 2001 through 2006.

The Food and Drug Administration didnt approve either use.

Depakote, one of Illinois-based Abbotts best-selling drugs before its patent expired in 2007, is approved for the treatment of epilepsy, bipolar disorder and migraines.

Marketing off-label uses for pharmaceutical drugs is dangerous, and this settlement holds Abbott accountable and protects consumers, Attorney General Pam Bondi stated in a release.

The states and District of Columbia will divide $100 million of the settlement.

The overall settlement, which includes five-year probation for the company, is the second-largest payment by a drug company, trailing only Pfizer Inc.'s $2.3 billion settlement in 2009.