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 The pharmacy chain will pay $209.2 million to resolve claims it
improperly billed Medicare, Medicaid and other federal programs from
2006 to 2017 for hundreds of thousands of insulin pens it dispensed
to patients it knew did not need them.
Walgreens will also pay $60 million to resolve claims it overcharged
Medicaid from 2008 to 2017 by failing to disclose and charge the
discount drug prices it offered the public through its Prescription
Savings Club program.
The Deerfield, Illinois-based company said it "admits, acknowledges,
and accepts responsibility" for conduct alleged by the federal
government, according to the settlement agreements.
In a separate statement, Walgreens said it "has admitted no
wrongdoing," and that the settlements were in the best interests of
customers, patients and other stakeholders.
It also said it set aside enough money for both settlements as of
Nov. 30, 2018.
The company recently had more than 9,400 drugstores in the United
States.
Walgreens' settlements resolve claims under the federal False Claims
Act, which lets private whistleblowers sue on the federal
government's behalf and share in recoveries.
The accords were respectively approved last week by U.S. District
Judges Paul Crotty and Paul Oetken, who both sit in Manhattan.
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About $200 million of the payout will go to the federal government,
and the rest to state governments.
Walgreens also entered a corporate integrity agreement with the
Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services to ensure future compliance with federal healthcare
programs.
Two pharmacists filed the original complaint concerning the insulin
pens in July 2015. A copy of that complaint could not immediately be
obtained on Tuesday.
Marc Baker, who worked for Walgreens for a decade as a pharmacy
manager in Florida, filed the original complaint concerning the drug
price discounts in January 2012.
Both lawsuits had been filed under seal.
The cases are U.S. ex rel Rahimi v Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc,
U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 15-05686;
and U.S. ex rel Baker v Walgreens Inc in the same court, No.
12-00300.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by David
Gregorio and Tom Brown)
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