Associated Press |
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Attorney General
Ken Cuccinelli has asked the
U.S. Treasury Department to go ahead and release $800,000 of
Virginia's share of a national
Medicaid fraud settlement.
That's a fraction of the $105 million the state still has coming for leading an investigation that resulted in
Abbott Laboratories paying $1.5 million to settle allegations that it promoted an anti-seizure drug for uses that were not approved by the federal government. A federal judge in Abingdon, Va., approved the settlement in October.
The attorney general's office already has received $10 million for its own use. The rest of the money will go to various public safety initiatives selected by the attorney general, but the
Treasury Executive Office for Asset Forfeiture has demanded additional details on Virginia's proposals before cutting any additional checks.
In a letter earlier this week, Cuccinelli's office asked the Treasury office to release $800,000 for one of the initiatives: a grant to the Department of
Criminal Justice Services for training to help law enforcement officers better respond to crisis situations involving mentally ill people.
"This is an important program that will receive funding to ensure that more of our first responders get the training they need to deal with these difficult situations," Cuccinelli said in a written statement Friday. "The added bonus is that it won't be at the taxpayers' expense."
Cuccinelli said that a 2011 jail survey found that one-fourth of Virginia's inmates had
mental illnesses, and nearly have of those had serious mental illnesses.
From the AP. Copyright 2013.