Jury Awards Major Damages Against Omnicare and CVS Health

After a month-long trial, a unanimous jury has concluded that Omnicare, the largest long-term care pharmacy in the US, dispensed drugs without valid prescriptions to elderly and disabled people living in long-term care facilities, and then fraudulently billing federal programs.

Just the Facts

In presenting its case, the government alleged that Omnicare fraudulently billed federal health care programs for invalid prescriptions written for residents at over 3000 senior living communities across the country. Omnicare filled prescriptions that had expired by assigning new numbers to them and filing them for months or even years without a valid, current prescription. After filing the prescriptions, Omnicare submitted false claims for payment to Medicare, Medicaid, and TRICARE.

The Verdict

Following a 4-week trial, a jury found that Omnicare billed the federal programs for over 3 million false claims, resulting in $ 135 592 814 in damages. According to US Attorney Jay Clayton, “Under the federal False Claims Act, the government is entitled to three times the amount of these assessed damages, or $406 778 442, plus statutory penalties to be determined by the Court. This is one of the largest damages verdicts rendered by a jury in a False Claims Act case,” noted Clayton, in a statement about the verdict.

CVS Health Corporation, Omnicare’s parent company, was also found liable.

Both Omnicare and CVS Health had sought to have the case dismissed early in the proceedings, but a federal judge denied the request.

Reference

United States of America v Omnicare, Inc; CVS Health Corp. No 1:15-cv-04179-CM. United States District Court Southern District of New York; 2019. https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/press-release/file/1226966/dl?inline=#xd_co_f=OTFlNTljODYtZjRmNC00ZWJlLTkxYmQtNTZiMDUxMDU5MDFl~

Statement of U.S. attorney Jay Claton on the verdict in U.S. v. Omnicare and CVS Health Corporation. Press release. United States Attorney’s Office Southern District of New York. Published April 29, 2025. Accessed May 28, 2025. https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/new-york/nysdce/1:2015cv04179/442763/89/#xd_co_f=OTFlNTljODYtZjRmNC00ZWJlLTkxYmQtNTZiMDUxMDU5MDFl~