BOSTON — Walgreens (Walgreens Co.) has agreed to pay more than $2.8 million to settle claims that it inflated prices for generic medications billed to Medicaid programs in Massachusetts and Georgia.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, Walgreens allegedly violated the federal, Massachusetts, and Georgia False Claims Acts by submitting inflated “usual and customary” prices to MassHealth and Georgia Medicaid programs between 2008 and 2023. This caused both programs, which reimburse pharmacies at the lowest reported price points, to overpay for certain generic medications.
The settlement addresses claims initially brought by a whistleblower under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Acts, which allow private individuals to file lawsuits on behalf of the government and share in any financial recovery.
United States Attorney Leah B. Foley, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell, Georgia Attorney General Christopher M. Carr, and Roberto Coviello of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced the settlement Thursday.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Sharobem of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Affirmative Civil Enforcement Unit, Assistant Attorneys General Ian Marinoff and Richard Tangum, Analyst Will Welsh, and Assistant Attorney General Heather D’Orazio handled the investigation.
