Medical clinic to pay $120,000 for importing medication

MOUNT VERNON — A Mount Vernon medical practice will pay $120,000 to the federal and state governments in a settlement for unlawfully importing medications from a foreign source.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Seattle said the Skagit Family Health Clinic imported birth control medications that had not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the Skagit Valley Herald reported.

“FDA approval is a critical way for government medical programs to ensure patients get appropriate medicines and devices,” Nick Brown, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington, said in the release. “We don’t have evidence that any patients were harmed from these unapproved medications, but government programs cannot pay for clients to take such a risk.”

Under terms of the pre-litigation settlement, the clinic will pay $72,000 to the state and just over $48,000 to the federal government.

The money will reimburse the governments for their share of costs paid on Medicaid claims between 2015 and 2020.

The U.S. Department of Justice settled the matter on behalf of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General, the state Attorney General’s Office and the state Health Care Authority.