By Alabama Public Radio
Montgomery, AL – State officials say Alabama health care agencies will get more than 560-thousand dollars as part of a settlement between 29 states and pharmaceutical giant Bristol-Myers Squibb. The states sued Bristol-Myers in 2002, claiming the drug maker used fraudulently obtained patents to delay the production of a generic form of a cancer-fighting drug. The settlement calls for Bristol-Myers to pay 50 million dollars to consumers and health care agencies who were unable to buy the less expensive generic drug. Alabama's portion of the settlement will be distributed to several agencies and to consumers who paid for Taxol between 1999, and 2003. Those consumers can receive at least 438 dollars.