Walgreens settlement overview:
- Who: Walgreens agreed to pay a combined $106.8 million to put an end to three complaints filed by the Department of Justice under the False Claim’s Act’s qui tam provision.
- Why: The DOJ claimed Walgreens violated the False Claims Act and state laws by billing government health programs for prescriptions it never dispensed.
- Where: The lawsuits were filed in New Mexico, Texas and Florida federal courts.
Walgreens agreed to pay $106.8 million to resolve three complaints arguing it billed government health programs for prescriptions it never actually dispensed.
The lawsuits, filed by the United States Department of Justice in New Mexico, Texas and Florida federal courts, argued Walgreens violated the False Claims Act and state laws.
The DOJ filed the complaints under the False Claims Act’s qui tam provision, which allows a private party or whistleblower to file a complaint on behalf of the federal government.
The government argued Walgreens submitted or caused to be submitted claims for payment to the Medicare program between 2009 and 2020 for medications, equipment and related supplies that it claims was never dispensed or distributed.
“Walgreens’s implementation of the (Unaccounted-for Status) classification and functionality in (Intercom Plus) caused it to bill federal health care payors for UA Status prescriptions that were processed but never picked up by or delivered to the customer,” court documents say.
Walgreens scheme enabled it to get paid twice on prescriptions, DOJ says
Walgreens would restock and resell the medications without withdrawing the claims, according to the DOJ, which claimed this would allow the drugstore to get paid twice on the prescriptions.
Almost $92 million of the settlement will represent federal recovery, while around $15 million will be returned to the individual states, the DOJ said.
In addition, Walgreens is set to receive a credit of around $66 million toward the settlement, due to the company previously refunding that amount in the lawsuits.
In other recent Walgreens news, a pair of consumers filed a class action lawsuit against the company earlier this year over claims it sold benzoyl peroxide products containing the human carcinogen benzene.
The class action lawsuit argues Walgreens failed to list benzene as an ingredient of its BPO products and failed to warn consumers that the products contained the carcinogen.
What do you think of the Walgreens false billing claims settlement? Let us know in the comments.
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One thought on $106.8M Walgreens settlement resolves false billing claim lawsuits
thank you