The owners of two pharmacies in Northeast Philadelphia -- Future Pharmacy on Bustleton Avenue and JJ Pharmacy on Red Lion Road -- have agreed to pay the government more than $3.5 million after allegations arose that these stores were charging Medicare for prescription drugs that were never actually dispensed.
“Pharmacies and pharmacists have a responsibility to serve as gatekeepers of a closed system of prescription drug distribution. That responsibility was allegedly abused for profit here,” said United States Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero, in a statement announcing the settlement.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, from January of 2012 to December of 2016, these stores, allegedly, charged Medicare for drugs such as Lidocaine, Lidoderm, Advair Diskus, Nexium, Creon, and Abilify without ever dispensing these drugs to customers.
Through this settlement, the owners of these stores do not claim liability for the offenses alleged by the U.S. Attorney's office.
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However, along with agreeing to pay the multimillion dollar settlement, owners of these pharmacies, officials said, have also also agreed to a 5-year exclusion that will ensure they cannot receive payments from any federally funded health care insurer, such as medicare, for that time.
Also, the U.S. Attorney's Office noted, these stores have ceased operations.
