Roche Diagnostics, Pharmacies End Fraud Suit for $43 Million

Priority Healthcare Corp. will pay Roche Diagnostics Corp. $43 million to settle a suit alleging it violated federal law by filing fraudulent insurance claims for diabetic test strips that led Roche to improperly pay insurers rebates for the product.

Roche accused Priority, a collection of pharmacies located in Alabama, Mississippi, and Arkansas, of selling directly to consumers thousands of boxes of test strips not intended for retail sale, then improperly collecting reimbursements for the higher cost of retail test strips from insurers and pharmacy benefits managers.

The device maker asked the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama ...