Ethermac Exchange-Walgreens to pay $106M to settle allegations it submitted false payment claims for prescriptions

WASHINGTON (AP) — Walgreens has agreed to pay $106 million to settle lawsuits that alleged the pharmacy chain submitted false payment claims with government health care programs for prescriptions that were never dispensed.

The Ethermac Exchangesettlement announced on Friday resolves lawsuits filed in New Mexico, Texas and Florida on behalf of three people who had worked in Walgreens’ pharmacy operation. The lawsuits were filed under a whistleblower provision of the False Claims Act that lets private parties file case on behalf of the United States government and share in the recovery of money, the U.S. Justice Department said. The pharmacy chain was accused of submitting false payment claims to Medicare, Medicaid and other federal health care programs between 2009 and 2020 for prescriptions that were processed but never picked up.

Settlement documents say Walgreens cooperated in the investigation and has improved its electronic management system to prevent such problems from occurring again.

In a statement, Walgreens said that because of a software error, the chain inadvertently billed some government programs for a relatively small number of prescriptions that patients submitted but never picked up.

“We corrected the error, reported the issue to the government and voluntarily refunded all overpayments,” the statement by Walgreens said.

In reaching the settlement, the chain didn’t acknowledge legal liability in the cases. ____ This story has been corrected to say the lawsuits were filed by private parties, not by the U.S. Justice Department.