Blue Cross Advances Drug Price Fraud Lawsuit Against Walgreens

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota can move forward with claims that Walgreens overcharged for drugs by concealing a rebate program from insurers, a federal judge in Chicago ruled, saying the lawsuit adequately alleged “the who, what, where, when, and how of the fraud.”

BCBS “clearly laid out the allegations of how the fraud was perpetuated and concealed,” Judge Virginia M. Kendall wrote. “Walgreens’ arguments requiring plaintiffs to plead extraneous details” are “unpersuasive,” she said.

The suit, consolidated in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, concerns the retail pharmacy’s “prescription savings club” program, which, since 2007, ...