A federal lawsuit against national chain CVS Pharmacy, Inc. has ended with a $37.76 million settlement after the company admitted it over-dispensed insulin pens and improperly billed government health programs.<\/p>\n
Between 2010 and 2020, prosecutors said CVS repeatedly filled insulin prescriptions before patients needed them, supplied more pens than prescribed and under-reported how many days the insulin would last \u2014 all to get early reimbursements from programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE and the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program.<\/p>\n
The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York<\/a> filed suit against CVS charging that this practice violated the False Claim Act.<\/p>\n Read more: FBI issues nationwide warning: \u2018Protect yourself\u2019 from this growing scam<\/a><\/p>\n A $37.7 million settlement was reached Dec. 2. <\/p>\n \u201cThe Government alleges that CVS improperly requested and received GHP reimbursement for premature refills, dispensed more insulin pens than patients needed according to their prescriptions, and falsely under-reported the days-of-supply of insulin that its pharmacies dispensed,\u201d the settlement states<\/a>. <\/p>\n Of the $37.7 million, more than $24 million will be paid to the United States and the remainder will be paid to various states. <\/p>\n \u201cAs part of the settlement, CVS also admitted and accepted responsibility for certain conduct alleged by the Government in its complaint, including that GHPs paid CVS substantial amounts for insulin pen refills that were ineligible for reimbursement and CVS pharmacies dispensed more insulin to GHP beneficiaries than they needed,\u201d the settlement announcement reads. <\/p>\n