Walgreens Pays $35 Million, Settles Pharmacist-Whistleblower Qui Tam Drug Switching Allegations

Third National Pharmacy Settles Drug Switching Allegations; $120 Million Total Recovered For Federal and State Taxpayers This complete Settlement News Release is available at http://www.PharmacyFraudSettlement.com


CHICAGO, June 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Walgreens today became the third national
pharmacy to settle drug switching allegations exposed by a whistleblowing
veteran pharmacist whose actions have returned more than $120 million to
federal and state governments.  The cases against three of America's largest
drug store chains were pursued by Chicago-based whistleblower attorneys
Michael I. Behn and Linda Wyetzner under qui tam provisions of state and
federal False Claims Acts.


Walgreens paid $35 million to 42 states and the Commonwealth of Puerto
Rico to settle allegations it overcharged Medicaid by switching dosage forms
in filling generic Prozac(R), Zantac(R) and Eldepryl(R) prescriptions,
according to Behn.


Today's settlement resulted from a suit filed by Behn and Wyetzner in the
United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.  This is
the third case their firm, Behn & Wyetzner, Chartered, has handled for
pharmacist whistleblower Bernard Lisitza.  Prior generic drug switching cases
by Lisitza resulted in a $37 million settlement earlier this year with CVS
Caremark Corp., owner of CVS pharmacies, and a $50 million settlement in late
2006 with Omnicare, Inc., the nation's largest pharmacy for nursing homes.


"Bernie wanted the government to know that the drug switching programs he
observed were schemes to increase pharmacy profits at taxpayers' expense,"
Behn said.  "As a professional who has filled prescriptions for decades,
Bernie saw no medical benefit for the drug switching."


"The Walgreens settlement today, like CVS and Omnicare before it, shows
how an alert, dedicated pharmacist whistleblower can help the government clean
up an entire industry when profits are put ahead of the public trust," Behn
said.


Behn praised the "unique and unparalleled coordination of state and
federal prosecutors" in the Walgreens, CVS and Omnicare cases.


Today's Walgreens case is yet another successful whistleblower action
brought by Behn & Wyetzner, Chartered.  In addition to the Omnicare and CVS
cases, Behn represented the plaintiffs in the largest whistleblower settlement
in Chicago, which resulted in Northrop Grumman paying $134 million to resolve
claims involving the B-2 "Stealth" bomber.


Today's settlement was achieved through the efforts of Assistant U.S.
Attorney Linda A. Wawzenski, Deputy Chief of the Civil Division of the U.S.
Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois; Patrick Keenan, Chief
of the Medicaid Fraud Bureau and Assistant Attorney General of Illinois; John
Guthrie, Director of the Ohio Attorney General's Health Care Fraud Unit;
Bernabe Icaza, then Assistant Attorney General of Florida; Robert Robinson,
Assistant Attorney General of Texas; and several other state prosecutors
working with the National Association of Medicaid Fraud Control Units
("NAMFCU"). Special Agents of the FBI, the FDA, and the Office of the
Inspector General, Department of Health and Human Services, also assisted in
the investigation and prosecution of the Walgreens case.


In executing the Settlement Agreement, Walgreens denied liability,
wrongdoing or improper conduct.


Case: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ex rel.BERNARD LISITZA. States ex rel.
BERNARD LISITZA, and BERNARD LISITZA, individually v. WALGREENS Co., Northern
District of Illinois, 03C00744.



Visit http://www.pharmacyfraudsettlement.com, a reference Web site for
pharmacy fraud and pharmacist whistleblowers just updated with material and
filed documents relating to the Walgreens, CVS and Omnicare qui tam
whistleblower settlements.  Included are filed documents, fraud allegations,
applicable federal laws, and information about the experienced qui tam
whistleblower attorneys from Behn & Wyetzner, Chartered who handled the
Walgreens and other whistleblower cases.



About Pharmacists: As front line professionals responsible for dispensing
medications to Medicaid beneficiaries, pharmacists are particularly well
suited to discover and report Medicaid fraud, which is clear from the
Walgreens, CVS and Omnicare cases as reported on the
PharmacyFraudSettlement.com Web site.



SOURCE  PRforLAW, LLC