New York Paralegal Blog

NEW YORK - Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today announced a settlement with the Walgreen Company following an investigation that determined that over 3,000 individuals insured by the NYS Empire Plan were misled by Walgreens into thinking they were covered for flu shots administered at the pharmacy, when they were not. Today's settlement requires Walgreens to cease advertising free flu shots for Empire Plan members and to refund payments to consumers who were forced to pay for flu shots out of their own pocket. The Attorney General also provided tips to protect health care consumers from having to pay unnecessary costs this flu season.

WASHINGTON – 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. Walgreens, which operates over 5,000 retail pharmacies throughout the U.S., switched the prescriptions for Medicaid patients who were prescribed 150 mg or 300 mg tablets of Ranitidine to more expensive capsules; prescriptions for 10 mg or 20 mg capsules of Fluoxetine to more expensive tablets; and prescriptions for 5 mg tablets of Eldepryl to more expensive capsules. 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. See, USDOJ