Ugh, what heartburn this must cause the folks over at CVS…

CVS Caremark Corp. agreed to pay almost $37 million to nearly two dozen states — including Massachusetts — and the federal government to settle claims that the nation’s largest pharmacy chain billed Medicaid programs for a more expensive formulation of an antacid, authorities said yesterday.The settlement in the case — the first of its kind for a retail pharmacy company — came after a lengthy investigation that began in 2001, when a suburban Chicago pharmacist alerted authorities.

Attorneys said the nation’s largest pharmacy chain gave Medicaid patients capsules of Ranitidine, a generic version of the heartburn medication Zantac, instead of even less expensive tablets. Both generic versions of the medication have the same active ingredient.

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