Walgreens Agrees to $106M Settlement Over False Prescription Claims
Walgreens has agreed to a $106 million settlement to resolve allegations that it submitted false payment claims to government health care programs for prescriptions that were never dispensed. The settlement, announced on Friday, addresses lawsuits filed in New Mexico, Texas, and Florida by former employees of the pharmacy chain. These lawsuits were brought under the whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act, which allows private individuals to file cases on behalf of the U.S. government and share in any recovery.
The allegations claimed that between 2009 and 2020, Walgreens submitted incorrect payment claims to Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal health care programs for prescriptions that were processed but not picked up by patients.
Settlement documents reveal that Walgreens cooperated with the investigation and has since upgraded its electronic management system to prevent future issues.
Walgreens stated that the errors were due to a software glitch, which led to incorrect billing for a small number of uncollected prescriptions. The company corrected the error, notified the government, and refunded all overpayments.
As part of the settlement, Walgreens did not admit legal liability.
