Walgreens has agreed to pay $100 million to settle a class action lawsuit accusing the pharmacy chain of inflating prescription drug prices for insured customers.
The settlement, announced after seven years of litigation, resolves claims that Walgreens improperly inflated its "usual and customary" prices for prescription drugs by not factoring in the lower prices it charged members of its prescription savings club, according to court documents obtained by Becker's.
This comes after Walgreens also agreed to pay $106.8 million in September to resolve allegations of submitting false billing claims to federal healthcare programs.
The lawsuit, initially filed in 2017, alleged that by excluding PSC prices when determining usual and customary prices, Walgreens caused insured customers and third-party payors to overpay for prescription medications.
Plaintiffs argued that these inflated prices were deceptive and violated consumer protection laws. As a part of the settlement, Walgreens agreed to terminate the PSC program.
In an email shared with Becker's, a Walgreens spokesperson stated, "We admit no liability and believe these claims never had any merit. We launched the prescription savings club more than 15 years ago to provide equitable access to lower-cost medications for uninsured and underinsured. This resolution allows us to focus on our turnaround strategy that will benefit our patients, customers, team members and shareholders."
The $100 million settlement covers individuals or entities who paid for prescriptions at Walgreens using insurance between January 2007 and present.