Brian Glasser
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- The state of Michigan's interests won't be served by a West Virginia whistleblower and a West Virginia law firm in a lawsuit against prescription drug retailers, a Michigan judge has ruled.
Kent County Circuit Judge James Robert Redford granted summary disposition in early September to a group of drug stores in a case that alleged the stores were ripping off the state's Medicaid program. The suit was filed in Grand Rapids by Marcia Gurganus, a pharmacist from Princeton, W.Va.
She was represented by Bailey & Glasser of Charleston, W.Va., which also has been hired by West Virginia Attorney General Darrell McGraw for a pair of similar lawsuits.
Among the defendants were CVS Pharmacy, Kmart, Rite Aid, Walgreen and Kroger. Gurganus is a pharmacist at Kroger and claimed the generic drug-pricing information she obtained showed the defendants were violating Medicaid reimbursement laws.
"(T)he sheer number of claims does not overshadow the fact that the only actual pricing information that is the premise for all of these claims is derived from insider Kroger information obtained in West Virginia in violation of Kroger's computer use policies," Redford wrote.
According to Gurganus' Facebook page, her husband is attorney Alvin Gurganus, a partner at Princeton law firm Williamson, Magann & Gurganus.
To read more, visit legalnewsline.com.