US pharmacy chain Walgreens agrees to pay $106M to settle charges

​​​​​​​By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - American pharmacy store chain Walgreens agreed to pay $106.8 million to resolve allegations it billed the US government for prescriptions never dispensed, the Justice Department said Friday.

The US government alleged that Walgreens submitted false claims for payment to Medicare, Medicaid and other federal health care programs between 2009 and 2020 for prescriptions it processed but that were never picked up by beneficiaries.

It argued that Walgreens instead restocked and resold the prescriptions to someone else without reversing the claim submitted to the government, collecting payment twice on the prescriptions.

It claimed the company, as a result, received millions of dollars for prescriptions it never provided to health care beneficiaries.

"Millions of Americans rely on the promise of federal healthcare through programs like Medicare and Medicaid," US Attorney Alexander Uballez for the District of New Mexico said in a statement. "Fraudulently billing for prescriptions which are never dispensed endangers the integrity of these critical programs. We are committed to guarding the public’s investment in our health from private corporations."