Eckerd Unit to Plead Guilty in Medicaid Case

A wholly owned affiliate of drugstore chain Eckerd Corp. agreed to plead guilty to charges it only partially filled customers’ prescriptions and then billed Florida Medicaid for the full amount, authorities said.

ECK MD Inc. was charged with two counts of filing false claims with Medicaid and two counts of failing to keep accurate records of drug transactions, the U.S. attorney’s office in Tampa said.

Customers who were shorted were told they were only getting part of the prescription and were told they could return later for the rest, but some never came back for the balance. Nonetheless, the stores billed Medicaid for the full amount, prosecutors said.