Kmart pays $35.3M to settle hard-fought whistleblower case alleging inflated prescription drug prices
Summary
The "qui tam" (whistleblower) case – filed in 2008 by Phillips & Cohen on behalf of former Kmart pharmacist James Garbe – alleged that from 2004 to 2016 Kmart charged Medicare, Medicaid and Tricare as well as private insurers more for generic prescription drugs than it charged customers who paid cash.The False Claims Act requires the government to decide whether it will join a qui tam case, which depends on many factors."The settlement shows we were right to continue to pursue the case on behalf of taxpayers, despite the governments decision not to join the qui tam lawsuit," said Erika A. Kelton, a whistleblower attorney and partner at Phillips & Cohen.Kmart waged a fierce legal battle to get the qui tam case dismissed after it was unsealed seven years ago, taking the litigation all the way to the US Supreme Court.Related Links WASHINGTON, Dec. 22, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Kmart Corp. has agreed to pay $35.3 million to the federal government and a number of states to settle a whistleblower lawsuit jointly litigated by Phillips & Cohen LLP and Korein Tillery that alleged Kmart overcharged government healthcare programs and private insurers for generic prescription drugs.