Walgreen has agreed to pay $35 million to settle allegations that the company improperly switched the form of generic medications prescribed to Medicaid beneficiaries to receive higher reimbursements from the program, the Hartford Courant reports (Levick, Hartford Courant, 6/5).
The allegations resulted from a lawsuit filed in 2003 in U.S. District Court for Northern Illinois by independent pharmacist Bernard Lisitza. Forty-two states; Washington, D.C.; Puerto Rico; and the federal government later joined the lawsuit. According to the lawsuit, Walgreen switched Medicaid beneficiaries from the tablet form to the more expensive capsule form of generic versions of the heartburn medication Zantac, the antidepressant Prozac and the Parkinson's disease treatment Eldepryl (Won Tesoriero, Wall Street Journal, 6/5).
Under the settlement, Walgreen will pay the states; Washington, D.C.; and Puerto Rico about $16.4 million under separate agreements and pay the federal government about $18.6 million (Parmely, Philadelphia Inquirer, 6/5). Walgreen also will increase compliance training for many employees as part of a five-year agreement with the federal government (Wall Street Journal, 6/5). Lisitza will receive about $5 million under the settlement. Walgreen denied any wrongdoing in the settlement (Philadelphia Inquirer, 6/5).
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