(Hartford, CT) — Attorney General William Tong and 49 other attorneys general joined the U.S. Department of Justice in settling allegations against Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. and Walgreen Co. (together, Walgreens). Under the terms of the agreement, Walgreens—which operates one of the largest retail pharmacy chains in the country from its headquarters in Deerfield, Illinois—will pay $97.8 million to resolve allegations that it unlawfully billed government health care programs for prescriptions that were never collected or otherwise received by patients.
The settlement agreement will resolve allegations set forth in two qui tam lawsuits: United States ex rel. Turck, et al. v. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc., et al., No. 4:19-cv-315 (E.D. Tex. filed Apr. 26, 2019); and United States, et al. ex rel. Jacob v. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc., No. 8:20-cv-858-T-60TGW (M.D. Fla. filed Apr. 23, 2020). These lawsuits specifically allege that between 2009 and 2020, Walgreens unlawfully billed Medicare, Medicaid, and other government health care programs for prescriptions drugs that were never picked up by beneficiaries. As a result of this unlawful conduct, Walgreens received tens of millions of dollars for uncollected prescriptions that it never actually provided to patients.
After the suits were filed, Walgreens implemented enhancements to its billing systems designed to prevent any future unlawful billing for uncollected prescriptions.
“For more than a decade, Walgreens unlawfully billed Connecticut and other states for prescriptions never provided to patients. I thank the whistleblowers for reporting these serious errors, enabling states to recover millions of dollars and ensuring that these illegal billing practices were stopped,” said Attorney General Tong.
Under the terms of the settlement agreement, Walgreens received credit for self-disclosing certain claims, and for previously refunding $66.3 million in connection with the settled claims. The total recovery for all Medicaid programs under the settlement is $9.6 million. Of that amount, the State of Connecticut will receive $728,083.37 in restitution and other recoveries.
A National Association of Medicaid Fraud Control Units (NAMFCU) Team investigated the allegations in conjunction with the Department of Justice and United States Attorneys’ Offices in Texas and Florida. The NAMFCU Team included representatives from the respective Office of the Attorney General for the states of Wisconsin, California, Texas, Maine, Oregon, and Massachusetts. Paralegal Specialist Orlean Woodham and Deputy Associate Attorney General Gregory O’Connell, Chief of the Government Fraud Section, assisted the Attorney General with this matter.