Walgreens To Pay $106-M To Settle False Payment Claims

Walgreens has agreed to pay $106 million to settle lawsuits that alleged the pharmacy chain submitted false payment claims to government healthcare programs for prescriptions that were never dispensed, the Associated Press Finance reported.

Walgreens was accused of submitting false payment claims to Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal healthcare programs between 2009 and 2020 for prescriptions that were processed but never picked up. I Photo: Mike Mozart Flickr

The settlement resolves lawsuits filed in New Mexico, Texas, and Florida on behalf of three former Walgreens pharmacy employees.

The lawsuits were filed under the whistleblower provision of the False Claims Act, which allows private parties to file cases on behalf of the US government and share in any financial recovery, the US Justice Department said.

Walgreens was accused of submitting false payment claims to Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal healthcare programs between 2009 and 2020 for prescriptions that were processed but never picked up.

Settlement documents state that Walgreens cooperated with the investigation and has improved its electronic management system to prevent such issues from recurring.

In a statement, Walgreens explained that a software error had caused the company to inadvertently bill some government programs for a small number of prescriptions that patients had submitted but never picked up.

“We corrected the error, reported the issue to the government, and voluntarily refunded all overpayments,” the Walgreens statement said.