Attorney General William H. Sorrell announced today that Vermont will receive approximately $95,000 as part of a $75 million settlement with Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc, that involved all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the federal government. The agreement with Ortho-McNeil-Janssen, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceuticals, Inc., resolves allegations that the company promoted topiramate, an antiepileptic and migraine prevention drug which is marketed under the trade name Topamax©, for uses not approved by the Food & Drug Administration.The off-label marketing included promoting the drug for a variety of psychiatric conditions, including bipolar disorder and drug and alcohol dependency. As a result of this settlement, Ortho-McNeil-Janssen will pay damages equal to three times the amount that Vermont and other states expended for prescriptions written as a result of the company’s off-label promotion. The company also pled guilty to a criminal misdemeanor violation of the Food, Drug & Cosmetic Act, and entered into a Corporate Integrity Agreement with the federal government to closely monitor the company’s future marketing and sales practices.Source: October 4, 2010. Attorney General.