Washington — Walgreens has agreed to pay $106 million to settle lawsuits alleging that the pharmacy giant made bogus payment claims to government health care programs for prescriptions that were never filled.
The settlement announced on Friday resolves cases filed in New Mexico, Texas, and Florida on behalf of three former Walgreens drugstore employees. The claims were brought under the False Claims Act’s whistleblower clause, which allows private parties to file a case on behalf of the United States government and share in the money recovered, according to the Justice Department.
Walgreens To Pay $106M To Settle Allegations It Submitted False Payment Claims For Prescriptions
Between 2009 and 2020, the pharmacy chain was accused of filing fake payment claims with Medicare, Medicaid, and other government health care programs for prescriptions that were completed but not picked up.
According to the settlement agreements, they cooperated with the inquiry and upgraded its electronic management system to avoid similar errors in the future.
The company stated in a statement that due to a technical problem, the business accidentally billed some government programs for a limited number of prescriptions that consumers filed but did not pick up.
Walgreens To Pay $106M To Settle Allegations It Submitted False Payment Claims For Prescriptions
“We corrected the error, reported the issue to the government, and voluntarily refunded all overpayments,” Walgreens stated.
In negotiating the settlement, the company did not admit legal liability in the instances. ____ This story has been amended to state that the cases were launched by private individuals rather than the US Justice Department.
SOURCE | AP
