WASHINGTON (AP) — Walgreens has agreed to pay $106 million to settle court cases that alleged the drugstore chain submitted false cost claims with govt well being care methods for prescriptions that have been by no means distributed.The agreement introduced on Friday resolves court cases filed in New Mexico, Texas and Florida on behalf of 3 individuals who had labored in Walgreens’ pharmacy operation. The court cases have been filed underneath a whistleblower provision of the False Claims Act that we could non-public events document case on behalf of america govt and percentage within the restoration of cash, the U.S. Justice Division stated. The drugstore chain used to be accused of filing false cost claims to Medicare, Medicaid and different federal well being care methods between 2009 and 2020 for prescriptions that have been processed however by no means picked up.Agreement paperwork say Walgreens cooperated within the investigation and has stepped forward its digital control gadget to stop such issues from happening once more.
In a remark, Walgreens stated that as a result of a device error, the chain inadvertently billed some govt methods for a moderately small collection of prescriptions that sufferers submitted however by no means picked up.
“We corrected the mistake, reported the problem to the federal government and voluntarily refunded all overpayments,” the remark via Walgreens stated.In attaining the agreement, the chain didn’t recognize criminal legal responsibility within the circumstances. ____ This tale has been corrected to mention the court cases have been filed via non-public events, now not via the U.S. Justice Division.
