Ahold Delhaize DOJ settlement terms call for Ahold Delhaize USA Inc. to pay $40 million after the United States alleged the company reported inflated prescription drug prices to Medicaid, Medicare and TRICARE. The agreement resolves False Claims Act and related state-law allegations tied to pricing at supermarkets with in-store pharmacies.
Lawrence LaBenne filed the case
Lawrence LaBenne, a pharmacist at an Ahold Delhaize supermarket in Pennsylvania, filed the qui tam action that led to the settlement. As the relator, he is set to receive roughly $6.1 million from the federal portion of the recovery, a figure that reflects how whistleblower cases can turn on a single employee's records and pricing knowledge.
$32.9 million goes to Washington
$32.9 million of the settlement is slated for the federal government, with the balance going to participating states. The DOJ said the matter covered Ahold Delhaize supermarkets such as Giant, Hannaford, Stop & Shop and Food Lion, and that the company allegedly failed to account for lower discount-program prices when billing federal health care programs.
$40 million closes allegations only; the claims resolved by the settlement do not include a determination of liability. The government said the failure to report discounted prices as usual and customary caused health care programs to overpay on covered prescriptions, and the case remains a reminder that pharmacy pricing practices can move from store-level promotions into federal reimbursement disputes fast.
June 10 is now the key date for the file: the Department of Justice announced the settlement that day in U.S. ex rel. LaBenne v. Koninklijke Ahold Delhaize N.V., et al., Civil Action No. 18-CV-925 in the Western District of Pennsylvania. For customers and investors, the practical takeaway is narrow but concrete — the company has paid to resolve the reporting dispute, while the underlying allegation remains just that, an allegation.
