Remedi SeniorCare to Pay over $5.5 Million to Settle Whistleblower Pharmacy Fraud Lawsuit

September 18, 2026, Cincinnati, OH — Helmer, Martins, Tate & Garrett Co., LPA (“HMTG”), a nationwide False Claims Act litigation boutique, announced today that Remedi SeniorCare has agreed to pay $5.5 million, plus interest, to resolve a qui tam whistleblower lawsuit brought by two former Remedi employees. The lawsuit alleged that Remedi billed Medicare and Medicaid for prescription drugs dispensed without valid prescriptions.

Who Is Remedi?

Remedi SeniorCare (“Remedi”), now owned by Clarest Health, is a long-term care pharmacy. Remedi is a Maryland company that was formerly headquartered in Ohio. Remedi supplies medications and pharmacy services to assisted living communities, nursing facilities, and other long-term care settings in states across the country.

Much of its oral medication is dispensed through PAXIT, an automated system that packages each resident’s pills into sealed daily doses.

What Does the Settlement Resolve?

The settlement—Government press release here—resolves allegations that Remedi submitted or caused to be submitted false claims to Medicare and Medicaid for prescription drugs that lacked valid prescriptions and were dispensed to residents of assisted living facilities.

Under the Consent Judgment and Settlement Agreement:

• Remedi will pay $5,389,780 to the United States and $110,220 to participating state Medicaid programs.
• Payments include 4.5% interest and are made in installments through October 2030.
• Remedi’s obligation to the United States cannot be discharged in bankruptcy.
• This is an ability-to-pay settlement: the government set the amount based on Remedi’s ability to pay, as shown in sworn financial disclosures, which is why the recovery is being paid over time rather than all at once.
• If Remedi files for bankruptcy before paying in full, the government holds a $36 million claim against the company, less any payments already made.

The United States intervened in the case for purposes of settlement. The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only, and the agreement is not an admission of liability by Remedi.

What did the Relators allege?

The whistleblowers, known as “relators” in qui tam cases, are two former Remedi employees who worked in the company’s Clinical Services Center in Troy, Ohio. One is a licensed pharmacist who held a senior leadership role there; the other was a supervisor in the same center.

The center handled prior authorizations for Remedi pharmacies nationwide, giving both whistleblowers a company-wide view of how prescriptions were managed and billed. Their Complaint alleges:

• A key safety check was turned off. Remedi’s pharmacy software once blocked dispensing when a prescription expired or ran out of refills. When Remedi moved to PAXIT, the company allegedly removed that block, so medications kept being dispensed and billed. The system also stopped warning staff when a prescription was about to lapse.
• Old prescriptions were made to look new. Remedi’s system allegedly assigned a new prescription number each month and listed the first day of the billing cycle as the date the prescription was written. Claims for prescriptions that had expired months or years earlier looked like brand-new prescriptions to Medicare and Medicaid.
• Staff created “prescriptions” without a prescriber. For medications not dispensed through PAXIT, pharmacy staff allegedly issued new prescription numbers and labels without authorization from a doctor or other prescriber.
• Invalid dispensing was widespread. Remedi’s Troy, Ohio pharmacist-in-charge allegedly estimated that at least 35–40% of the medication the pharmacy dispensed to assisted living residents was issued under expired or otherwise invalid prescriptions.

The complaint includes patient examples. In one, a Medicare beneficiary over age 89 living in an Ohio assisted living facility allegedly received a daily cholesterol medication for about nine months after the prescription expired. Doctors normally monitor that medication in elderly patients for liver problems, muscle pain, and cognitive decline.

What Was the Whistleblower’s Share of the Recovery?

Under the False Claims Act, whistleblowers can receive:

• 15% to 25% of the government’s recovery when the government intervenes in the case.
• Up to 30% when the whistleblower pursues the case without government intervention.

In this case, the government intervened and the whistleblowers will receive 20% of the federal and state recoveries.

To learn more, read How Much Do Qui Tam Whistleblowers Get Paid? or try HMTG’s Qui Tam Whistleblower Reward Calculator.

Who Represented the Whistleblowers?

The whistleblowers were represented by James A. Tate, B. Nathaniel Garrett, and Julie Webster Popham of Helmer, Martins, Tate & Garrett Co., LPA, together with Kelly Mulloy Myers of Freking Myers & Reul.

“Staying silent when you think your employer is defrauding the government is easy. Blowing the whistle and sticking with it for six years is hard, and it takes guts. We are proud of our clients, and happy they are being rewarded for their effort. Their willingness to come forward made our healthcare system a little safer and more just.” said James A. Tate, Co-Managing Partner of HMTG.

“Every patient deserves two basic safeguards before a pill reaches their hands: a prescriber who decides it’s needed, and a pharmacist who confirms the prescription is still valid,” said B. Nathaniel Garrett, Co-Managing Partner of HMTG. “Our clients alleged that Remedi’s system removed those checks for elderly assisted living residents but kept sending the bills to Medicare and Medicaid. They refused to look the other way, the government took their concerns seriously, and this settlement is the result.”

Case Information

The whistleblowers filed their qui tam case under seal on December 2, 2020, under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. § 3730(b). The case is captioned United States, et al., ex rel. Gearhart, et al. v. Remedi SeniorCare Holding Corporation, et al., Civil Action No. 1:20-cv-970 (S.D. Ohio).

Who Handled the Case for the Government?

The whistleblowers and their counsel thank the federal government for its tenacious pursuit of these allegations. The government team included attorneys from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Division, Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio—including Fraud Section Senior Litigation Counsel Laurie A. Oberembt and Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandi Stewart—and investigators from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) and the Ohio Attorney General’s Office.

What is Pharmacy Fraud?

Pharmacy fraud occurs when a pharmacy knowingly bills Medicare, Medicaid, or another government health program in a way that breaks the program’s rules. Common examples include:

• dispensing medication without a valid prescription;
• billing for drugs that were never given to a patient; or,
• reusing or reissuing a prescription after it expired instead of getting a new one from the prescriber.

Government health programs pay for prescription drugs on the understanding that a prescriber decided what the patient needs and that the prescription is still valid when filled. That check matters for elderly assisted living residents. Many take medications, such as antipsychotics, blood thinners, and diabetes drugs, that require regular review. Automatically refilling expired and exhausted prescriptions without consulting the treating physician puts vulnerable patients at risk for significant adverse health consequences

When a pharmacy skips or fakes that process, its bills can become false claims under the False Claims Act.

HMTG has represented pharmacy whistleblowers before; read about another HMTG pharmacy fraud case. If you work in healthcare and have concerns, see Is My Employer Committing Healthcare Fraud?

How Does the False Claims Act Work?

The False Claims Act lets private citizens with knowledge of fraud against the government file lawsuits on behalf of the United States. These are called qui tam lawsuits.

After a whistleblower files a case under seal, the government investigates and decides whether to intervene. Whistleblowers can continue the case even if the government declines.

If the government recovers money through a settlement, judgment, or verdict, the whistleblower may receive a share. The law also protects whistleblowers from employer retaliation.

Since 1986, qui tam lawsuits have helped recover tens of billions of dollars in taxpayer funds, making the False Claims Act one of the most effective anti-fraud laws in U.S. history. For a deeper overview, see What Is the False Claims Act? (2026 Guide).

About Helmer Martins Tate & Garrett Co., LPA

HMTG has prosecuted False Claims Act cases on behalf of whistleblowers longer than any law firm in America. Since 1984, the Cincinnati-based firm has filed cases nationwide and recovered over $1 billion for federal and state governments.

HMTG has represented clients in three False Claims Act cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, including the unanimous 2023 decision in U.S. ex rel. Schutte v. SuperValu Inc. and the 2008 decision in Allison Engine Co. v. U.S. ex rel. Sanders. The firm’s attorneys testified before Congress on major False Claims Act amendments signed by Presidents Reagan and Obama. The firm also publishes False Claims Act: Whistleblower Litigation, now in its eighth edition.

HMTG’s attorneys focus on healthcare, pharmaceutical, defense contracting, government procurement, and construction fraud. The firm’s cases have been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and on 60 Minutes. Its attorneys are regularly recognized by Best Lawyers in America, U.S. News & World Report, and Super Lawyers. See the firm’s case experience.

Do You Know About Pharmacy Fraud?

If you know of a pharmacy, drug manufacturer, or healthcare provider billing Medicare, Medicaid, or another government program for prescriptions that were not validly prescribed or dispensed, you may be able to help stop it. You may also be entitled to a share of any recovery.

Contact HMTG for a free, confidential consultation here.

Whistleblower Resources

• Getting Started: Working With HMTG
• How to Choose a False Claims Act Attorney
• Whistleblower Rights and Protections
• Federal False Claims Act: What Every Potential Whistleblower Needs to Know