A settlement has been reached in a whistleblower class action lawsuit brought against Walgreens Co who is accused of boosting the price for prescriptions paid by Medicaid by switching from capsules to tablets, or vice versa, depending on which was most expensive.
Walgreens Co agreed to pay $35 million to the federal government, 42 states and Puerto Rico. The federal share of the settlement is roughly $18.6 million, with the states and Puerto Rico sharing $16.4 million under separate settlement agreements. A whistleblower will receive $5 million of the total to resolve the original lawsuit filed in 2003.