By Patrick Byrne 
Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. and Walgreen Co. (Walgreens) have agreed to pay $106.8 million to resolve allegations of violating the False Claims Act and state laws by billing government health care programs for prescriptions that were never dispensed. This settlement addresses claims involving Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal health care programs between 2009 and 2020.
According to the U.S. government, Walgreens falsely billed for prescriptions that beneficiaries never picked up. As a result, Walgreens received millions of dollars in payments for medications that were never provided.
Walgreens took steps to address the issue, including enhancing its electronic pharmacy management system to prevent such errors and self-reporting certain conduct. The company also previously refunded $66.3 million related to the claims, which was credited towards the settlement.
“Federal health care programs provide critical services to millions of Americans,” said Brian M. Boynton, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General. “We will hold accountable those who abuse these programs by billing for goods or services not provided.”
The settlement includes $91.9 million allocated to the federal government, with an additional $14.9 million distributed to individual states, which fund Medicaid programs. This agreement resolves three whistleblower lawsuits filed under the False Claims Act’s qui tam provision. Two former Walgreens employees, Steven Turck and Andrew Bustos, will receive a combined total of more than $16.5 million for their roles in bringing the cases forward.
The resolution marks a significant victory in the ongoing fight against health care fraud, underscoring the government’s commitment to safeguarding taxpayer-funded programs like Medicare and Medicaid.
Ryan Rudd