OLYMPIA — Attorney General Bob Ferguson today announced that opioid manufacturer Reckitt Benckiser Group will pay nearly $2.2 million to Washington state as the result of a Medicaid fraud investigation that alleged the pharmaceutical company improperly kept the price of opioid addiction treatment drug Suboxone high by delaying generic versions, resulting in false or fraudulent claims to Washington’s Medicaid program.

The investigation also alleged that the company improperly marketed Suboxone.

Today’s agreement resolves six whistleblower lawsuits in federal courts in Virginia and New Jersey and involves $700 million in payouts to the federal government and state Medicaid programs.

Washington was a party to five of the six lawsuits.