Last updated on February 2nd, 2022 at 02:07 pm
Milwaukee-based Hayat Pharmacy has agreed to pay $2,050,000 to settle claims it submitted false claims to Medicare and Medicaid for a topical cream and a multivitamin.
The case stems from a complaint brought by a former pharmacist with the company who alleged there were more than 200 false claims submitted by just one of the pharmacy’s stores in 2019 alone. The complaint alleged that a pharmacist working from Hayat’s main building would falsify electronic and verbal prescriptions for the cream and vitamin and that the company inflated its billing to the government for those drugs by charging dispensing fees it was not entitled to charge.
The complaint says the former pharmacist was terminated when executives discovered he was looking for a new job.
For its part, Hayat did not admit any liability in the settlement.
“Hayat vigorously disputed the allegations made against our company,” the company said in a statement. “As a family-owned business, our mission is and always will be helping underserved populations in our community obtain proper health care. We agreed to settle this dispute in order to put this matter behind us so it does not distract from that mission. We are eager to move forward and to continue serving our neighbors in the Milwaukee community.”
Hayat, which has 23 locations in the Milwaukee area, also noted 19 of its locations are in underserved neighborhoods and its median patient income is less than $18,000....
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