CVS Caremark agrees to settle Medicaid fraud claims for $37 million

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The nation’s largest pharmacy chain says it’ll pay almost $37 million to nearly two dozen states, including Vermont, and the federal government to settle claims it billed Medicaid programs for a more expensive antacid formula.

Attorneys say Rhode Island-based CVS Caremark Corporation gave Medicaid patients Ranitidine capsules instead of less expensive tablets. The drug’s a generic version of Zantac.

Authorities say the switch is illegal and allowed the company to charge more than four times as much.

But CVS denies any wrongdoing and says it stocks and dispenses capsules because they’re cheaper to acquire than tablets.

The investigation began in 2001 after a suburban Chicago pharmacist alerted authorities.

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