PHILADELPHIA (AP) – The maker of the antidepressant Paxil agreed to pay $14 million to state drug-purchasing programs to settle allegations that it blocked generic versions of the drug from being made, causing the states to pay higher prices.

A spokeswoman for GlaxoSmithKline said the company denied any wrongdoing and was not admitting liability in making the settlement, which mostly affects Medicaid programs.

“We made the decision that settling was appropriate to avoid the expense and distraction of protracted litigation,” company spokeswoman Gaile Renegar said.

The states had alleged that GlaxoSmithKline used frivolous patent-infringement lawsuits against generic drug makers, triggering automatic extensions of the patent for Paxil. That delayed the introduction of generic versions of the drug, resulting in higher prices both for state drug programs and the general public, according to the attorneys general who won the settlement filed Tuesday in federal court in Philadelphia.

Critics call the patent extension “evergreening” but drug makers contend that it is a legitimate protection of the fruits of costly research.

A class-action lawsuit by users of Paxil in a Pennsylvania case was previously settled, but that settlement excluded government programs, according to Nixon’s office.

New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, whose office led the negotiations along with the Maryland attorney general’s office, said the settlement was agreed to by the attorneys general of every state except West Virginia, which reached a separate agreement.

Copy the Story Link