Attorney General: State Receives Settlement with Walgreens Pharmacies From: Office of the Mississippi Attorney General   Filed 6/26/08  GCN Jackson, MS-Mississippi has received its portion of a $35 million national settlement with Walgreens, one of America's most recognized pharmacies.  The settlement resolves claims that the company improperly switched forms of medicines from what the doctors had prescribed, either from tablets to capsules or vice versa, in order to receive greater reimbursements from Medicaid than they were entitled to receive. "It is my duty to protect our taxpayer dollars and to prevent companies from abusing our Medicaid System," said Attorney General Jim Hood.  "We do that by joining together with other states and forcing companies to some level of accountability."   In compliance with the settlement agreement, the company sent two checks totaling $30, 467.34 to the state last week, one payable to the Mississippi Division of Medicaid in the amount of $15,298.35  for restitution and interest and the second payable to the Medicaid Fraud Control Unity in the amount of $15,168.99 as a penalty.  There is no actual restitution to specific patients since the actual loss was to Medicaid Program itself.   The switch involved the medications  Ranitidine (generic Zantac), a commonly prescribed  anti-ulcer medication;  Flouoxetine (generic Prozac), commonly prescribed for depression  and Selegiline (generic Eldepryl)  for treating Parkinson's disease and dementia. In the agreement, Walgreens did not admit liability or that the claims made against them were valid.