Rhode Island’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit has recovered $589,310 as part of a $160-million national settlement with two out-of-state companies in a case involving Medicaid fraud.

The two companies, Purdue Frederick Co. Inc., a New York corporation, and Purdue Pharma LP, a Delaware limited partnership, engaged in the manufacture, marketing and distribution of OxyContin, an extended-release form of oxycodone.

The $160 million, split between the federal government and state Medicaid programs, compensates the programs for damages caused by the misbranding of OxyContin from 1995 through 2005.

The settlement funds paid to Rhode Island have been forwarded to the state’s Department of Human Services, which administers Medicaid, the joint state-federal health insurance program for low-income people.

The settlement is the result of a four-year investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Virginia in conjunction with other state and federal law enforcement agencies. Purdue and its top three executives pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia to charges of knowingly and fraudulently misbranding OxyContin as being less addictive, less subject to abuse and diversion and less likely to cause tolerance and withdrawal problems than other pain medications.

“The illegal practices engaged in by Purdue put people’s health, and their very lives, at risk,” said Rhode Island Attorney General Patrick Lynch, in a statement

“Making false claims to promote and market a potent drug can have dangerous and even deadly consequences. Purdue is paying the price for taking advantage of vulnerable people nationwide, including low-income Rhode Islanders,” he said.

The civil settlements with Purdue also require the company to enter into a corporate integrity agreement with the Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to monitor the company’s operations and ensure future compliance with all laws and regulations.