Walgreens Agrees To Pay $100M To Settle Overcharging Lawsuit: Reuters

DEERFIELD, IL — Less than two months after agreeing to pay the government $106.8 million in a settlement regarding prescriptions never dispensed, Walgreens is now ponying up another $100 million to settle a class action lawsuit. As reported by Reuters, the lawsuit accused the Deerfield-based pharmacy giant of fraudulently overcharging customers for a decade when they bought generic drugs through private insurance, Medicare or Medicaid.

Walgreens was accused of wrongly requiring insured customers to pay more than members of its Prescription Savings Club, according to Reuters. Members of the club, for a low annual fee, were able to buy over 500 widely prescribe generic drugs for $5, $10 and $15 for 30-day prescriptions. In addition, they could get 90-day prescriptions for $10, $20 and $30.

As reported by Patch in September, Walgreens reached a settlement with the government to settle allegations that it billed public health programs for prescriptions that were never dispensed. Between 2009 and 2020, Walgreens submitted false claims seeking payment from Medicare, Medicaid and other federal health programs for prescriptions that were processed but not picked up, which authorities said violates the False Claims Act and state statutes. Walgreens, received tens of millions of dollars for prescriptions not provided to beneficiaries, according to the U.S. Department of Justice

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