Walgreens to pay $35 million to settle Medicaid prescription drug fraud allegations

This is the 3rd settlement with Walgreens…the cost of the tablets were a little bit more than capsules in this instance…and the charges could have been triple the amount and Medicaid was footing the bill, in other words, the taxpayers. In addition, an agreement was signed with the department of Health and Human Services to insure this does not happen again for the next 5 years. In a related story, Walgreens is going for a new mode of advertising with a huge sing in New York Times Square of 17,000 square feet that will debut next fall. Perhaps the advertising will help with keeping their name in front of the consumers to generate more revenue with a new focus here. BD

Walgreen Co. of Deerfield, Ill., has agreed to pay $35 million to settle claims that from 2001 to 2005, it improperly switched patients to different versions of the prescriptions drugs Ranitidine, Fluoxetine and Eldepryl in order to increase its reimbursement from Medicaid, the Justice Department announced today.

By switching the form of the drug dispensed to Medicaid patients, Walgreens substantially increased its reimbursement from Medicaid while providing no additional medical benefit to patients.