A federal court in New York has tossed a whistleblower lawsuit charging that large long-term care pharmacies violated the False Claims Act by failing to dispense requested generic drugs.

Fox Rx Inc., a Medicare Part D sponsor from 2006 to 2010, brought the charges against Omnicare, PharMerica and MHA-Long Term Care Network. In addition to charging that the pharmacies did not provide generic rather than brand-name drugs when requested, Fox claimed that the defendants dispensed expired drugs.

The accusations were about potential breaches of state pharmacy regulations, not false claims submitted for Medicare reimbursement, ruled Judge Denise Cote of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Fox failed to identify a federal statute or regulation that states Medicare only will reimburse for medications that are generics, if requested, and that have not passed their National Drug Code expiration date, Cote wrote in her Aug. 12 ruling.

Cote dismissed the charges and ordered the case closed.