DocketNumber: 146791
Filed Date: 9/18/2013
Status: Precedential
Modified Date: 10/30/2014
Order Michigan Supreme Court Lansing, Michigan September 18, 2013 Robert P. Young, Jr., Chief Justice 146791-3 & (104)(106)(110)(113)(114) Michael F. Cavanagh Stephen J. Markman Mary Beth Kelly Brian K. Zahra Bridget M. McCormack STATE OF MICHIGAN ex rel. MARCIA David F. Viviano, GURGANUS, Justices Plaintiff-Appellee, v SC: 146791 COA: 299997 Kent CC: 09-003411-CZ CVS CAREMARK CORPORATION, CVS PHARMACY, INC., CAREMARK, L.L.C., CAREMARK MICHIGAN SPECIALTY PHARMACY, L.L.C., CAREMARK MICHIGAN SPECIALTY PHARMACY HOLDING, L.L.C., CVS MICHIGAN, L.L.C., WOODWARD DETROIT CVS, L.L.C., REVCO DISCOUNT DRUG CENTERS, INC., KMART HOLDING CORPORATION, SEARS HOLDINGS CORPORATION, SEARS HOLDINGS MANAGEMENT CORPORATION, SEARS, ROEBUCK & COMPANY, RITE AID OF MICHIGAN, INC., PERRY DRUG STORES, INC., TARGET CORPORATION, KROGER COMPANY OF MICHIGAN, KROGER COMPANY, WALGREEN COMPANY, and WAL-MART STORES, INC., Defendants-Appellants. _________________________________________/ CITY OF LANSING and DICKINSON PRESS, INC., Plaintiffs-Appellees, Cross-Appellants, v SC: 146792 COA: 299998 Kent CC: 09-007827-CZ RITE AID OF MICHIGAN, INC., and PERRY DRUG STORES, INC., Defendants-Appellants, Cross-Appellees. _________________________________________/ CITY OF LANSING, DICKINSON PRESS, INC., and SCOTT MURPHY, Plaintiffs-Appellees, Cross-Appellants, v SC: 146793 2 COA: 299999 Kent CC: 10-000619-CZ CVS CAREMARK CORPORATION, CVS PHARMACY, INC., CAREMARK, L.L.C., CAREMARK MICHIGAN SPECIALTY PHARMACY, L.L.C., CAREMARK MICHIGAN SPECIALTY PHARMACY HOLDING, L.L.C., CVS MICHIGAN, L.L.C., WOODWARD DETROIT CVS, L.L.C., REVCO DISCOUNT DRUG CENTERS, INC., KMART HOLDING CORPORATION, SEARS HOLDINGS CORPORATION, SEARS HOLDINGS MANAGEMENT CORPORATION, SEARS, ROEBUCK & COMPANY, TARGET CORPORATION, KROGER COMPANY OF MICHIGAN, KROGER COMPANY, WALGREEN COMPANY, and WAL-MART STORES, INC., Defendants-Appellants, Cross-Appellees. _________________________________________/ On order of the Court, the application for leave to appeal the January 22, 2013 judgment of the Court of Appeals and the application for leave to appeal as cross- appellants are considered. The application for leave to appeal is GRANTED. The application for leave to appeal as cross-appellants is GRANTED, limited to the issue of whether there is a private cause of action under MCL 333.17755(2). The parties shall include among the issues to be briefed: (1) whether MCL 333.17755(2) provides an implied private cause of action; (2) what is meant by the requirement that a pharmacist shall “pass on the savings in cost” when the pharmacist dispenses a generically equivalent drug product and what constitutes a violation of that requirement; (3) whether this requirement is limited to transactions involving a substitution of a generic drug for a name brand drug, and in this regard, whether § 17755(2) must be read in conjunction with the other subsections of MCL 333.17755; (4) whether submission of a charge for the dispensing of a generic drug that is in violation of this requirement constitutes the making of a false claim under the Medicaid False Claim Act (MFCA), MCL 400.601 et seq. or the Health Care False Claim Act (HCFCA), MCL 752.1001 et seq.; (5) whether use of the remedies provided by the MFCA and the HCFCA is available when Part 177 of the 3 Michigan Public Health Code, MCL 333.17701 et seq. provides administrative remedies for violations of MCL 333.17755; (6) whether the plaintiffs satisfied the heightened pleading requirement applicable to these actions under MCR 2.112(B)(1); and (7) whether plaintiff Marcia Gurganus is qualified to bring a qui tam action in light of the limitations found at MCL 400.610a(13). The motions for leave to file briefs amicus curiae are GRANTED. Other persons or groups interested in the determination of the issues presented in this case may move the Court for permission to file briefs amicus curiae. I, Larry S. Royster, Clerk of the Michigan Supreme Court, certify that the foregoing is a true and complete copy of the order entered at the direction of the Court. September 18, 2013 t0911 Clerk