July 10, 2015

New York reached a $22.4 million settlement with the pharmacy Trinity Homecare LLC, primarily owned by Walgreen Co. The settlement relates to Synagis, an injectable drug for premature infants at risk for Respiratory Syncytial Virus (“RSV”). The drug can cost more than $2,000 per dose. Trinity had its staff try to sell Synagis by directly contacting the families of outpatient premature babies or their doctors, regardless of a patient’s need or if the baby’s current physician wanted it prescribed. According to allegations, initially lodged by a whistleblower hospital physician, Trinity staff improperly obtained babies’ names and other patient information from the hospital’s neo-natal intensive care unit logbooks. The whistleblower also alleged that Trinity misappropriated her name and medical license number on one alleged Synagis prescription for a baby she had never cared for. The Attorney General also conducted an audit and found that Trinity billed Medicaid when the pharmacy had no written prescription or when a purported prescription was invalid, including because it lacked a prescriber’s signature, patient’s name or a date. NY

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