Five pharmacies in New Jersey have agreed to pay a total of $1,935,000 to settle allegations of violating the False Claims Act. The allegations involve knowingly billing federal health care programs for medications that were never dispensed. This announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Alina Habba.
The settlement agreements state that inventory records indicated the pharmacies did not purchase enough medications from wholesalers to fulfill the prescriptions billed to federal health care programs.
2818 JFK Pharmacy LLC will pay $1,000,000 for alleged claims submitted from January 2, 2020, through January 24, 2022. Similarly, 518 Summit Care Pharmacy LLC has agreed to a payment of $600,000 for claims made between January 2, 2020, and March 28, 2022.
1850 Greenville Pharmacy LLC will pay $133,000 for alleged misconduct occurring from January 2, 2020, through April 11, 2022. Both 327 Alexandria Pharmacy LLC and 516 Broadway Care Pharmacy LLC have each agreed to pay $101,000 for claims submitted over similar periods.
U.S. Attorney Alina Habba stated: “All pharmacies that bill federal programs must ensure accurate billing and may not bill for medications they never dispensed. The Office will continue to pursue entities that fail in their essential responsibilities and engage in fraud, waste or abuse.”
The resolution was achieved through collaboration between the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey and the Justice Department’s Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch Fraud Section. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kruti Dharia and Robert Toll along with Senior Trial Counsel Jennifer Cihon represented the government.
This case underscores the government’s commitment to combating healthcare fraud using tools like the False Claims Act. Individuals can report potential fraud or abuse via the Department of Health and Human Services at their hotline number.
It is important to note that these settlements are based on allegations only; there has been no determination of liability.
