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 The settlement, disclosed in court papers filed in Manhattan federal
court on Thursday, resolves claims first asserted in 2009 by a
whistleblower in a lawsuit against Trinity Homecare LLC, a pharmacy
primarily owned by Walgreen.
The settlement marked the second in less than two weeks by the New
York attorney general and Walgreen over improper conduct and
billings by Trinity, after an earlier $2.55 million accord on June
29.
Walgreen agreed to the settlement to avoid delay and expense and did
so without any admission of liability, said spokesman James Cohn.
The latest settlement concerned an injectable respiratory drug
called Synagis, a brand name drug sold by AstraZeneca Plc that is
intended for at-risk premature infants.
According to the whistleblower lawsuit filed by a hospital
physician, Susan Vierczhalek, Trinity promoted the off-label use of
the drug and caused false claims to be submitted to the government.
In a statement, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said the
pharmacy "did not always have a prescription for that drug, but
billed Medicaid for it anyway."
"Of greater concern than the improper billing, is the possibility
that infants could have received injections which were not properly
prescribed to them," he said.
The federal government will receive some of the settlement, while
New York will receive $12.23 million, Schneiderman's office said.
New York in turn will pay Vierczhalek $4 million as her share of the
settlement, according to court papers.
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Barbara Hart, Vierczhalek's lawyer, called the settlement "a great
fraud recovery for Medicaid and gratifying in all respects."
Representatives for Walgreen did not respond to requests for
comment.
Walgreen is part of Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc, and this year sold
a majority stake in Trinity's parent Walgreens Infusion Services to
private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners. That business is now
known as Option Care.
(Reporting by Nate Raymond in New York; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
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