08:49 AM EDT, 07/09/2025 (MT Newswires) -- (Updates with the company statement from the third paragraph.)

CVS Health's ( CVS ) Omnicare unit was ordered to pay $948.8 million in penalties and damages in a whistleblower lawsuit alleging it fraudulently billed the US government for invalid drug prescriptions, Reuters reported Tuesday, citing a court order.

US District Judge Colleen McMahon in Manhattan imposed a $542 million penalty for filing of 3.34 million false claims from 2010 to 2018 and awarded $406.8 million in damages, Reuters said.

CVS plans to appeal the judgment, claiming that the lawsuit pertains to a "highly technical prescription dispensing recordkeeping issue that was allowed by law in many states," the company said Wednesday in an emailed statement to MT Newswires.

"The decision on penalties is unconstitutional, especially given the fact that there is no evidence that a single patient suffered harm," CVS said.

The company also said it is "jointly and severally liable" for $136 million of the $542 million penalty.

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