Walgreens settles Medicaid fraud allegations

Executive Summary

Walgreens agrees to pay $35 million to the federal government, 42 states and Puerto Rico to settle claims that it had switched the dosage forms of three drugs prescribed to Medicaid patients in order to receive higher reimbursements. The government alleged Walgreens switched patients from the tablet forms of ranitidine (generic Zantac) and Eldepryl (selegiline) to the more expensive capsule forms and switched those prescribed the capsule form of fluoxetine (generic Prozac) to the tablet form. CVS Caremark settled similar drug-switching claims in March and Omnicare did so in 2006 (1"The Pink Sheet," March 24, 2008, In Brief)