“Walgreens Agrees to Pay $106.8M for Fraudulent Billing”
Sept. 14 (UPI) — Walgreens has agreed to pay $106.8 million to settle allegations of violating the False Claims Act and state laws by billing federal health care programs for prescriptions that were never picked up by patients.
According to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Walgreens Boots Alliance and Walgreen Co. will pay the fine to resolve claims that the retail pharmacy, the largest in the nation, submitted false claims to Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal programs between 2009 and 2020 for prescriptions that patients did not collect.
“Walgreens received tens of millions of dollars for prescriptions it never actually provided to healthcare beneficiaries,” the DOJ said.
Previously, Walgreens refunded $66.32 million and updated its electronic pharmacy management system to prevent further incidents of false billing.
“Millions of Americans rely on federal healthcare programs like Medicare and Medicaid,” said U.S. Attorney Alexander Uballez of New Mexico. “Fraudulently billing for undispensed prescriptions jeopardizes the integrity of these critical programs.”
The settlement resolves three federal cases against Walgreens in New Mexico, Texas, and Florida.
A Walgreens spokesperson, in a statement to Fox Business, explained the issue as a software error that led to inadvertent billing for uncollected prescriptions. “We corrected the error, reported it to the government, and voluntarily refunded all overpayments. We appreciate the government acknowledging our compliance efforts in resolving this matter.”
The investigation into Walgreens was initiated by former pharmacy manager Steven Turck, who filed a qui tam lawsuit in Texas. Turck will receive $14.92 million for his role. Similarly, former Walgreens district pharmacy supervisor Andrew Bustos will receive $1.62 million for initiating an investigation in New Mexico.
