On Friday, Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc.
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agreed to pay $106.8 million to settle allegations that it submitted false claims to government healthcare programs, violating the False Claims Act and state regulations.
The settlement resolves accusations that the pharmacy chain billed Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal health programs for processed prescriptions but never actually dispensed to beneficiaries.
The alleged fraudulent activity spanned from 2009 to 2020.
The Department of Justice alleges Walgreens collected tens of millions of dollars from the federal government for medications that never reached patients.
As part of the resolution, Walgreens has implemented updates to its electronic pharmacy management system to prevent similar issues from occurring.
Notably, the company received credit for proactively addressing the issue, including self-reporting certain instances and refunding $66.3 million before the settlement.
The settlement also involves significant contributions to individual states, with $14.9 million allocated to Medicaid-participating states. The federal government’s share of the recovery amounts to $91.9 million.
The settlement covers three cases filed under the qui tam provision of the False Claims Act, allowing private parties to sue on behalf of the government.
Two former Walgreens employees, Steven...
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