Government
Government alleges kickback, asks for more time in Medco case
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Dec. 20, 2004
In exchange for a large managed care organization's business, pharmacy benefit manager Medco Health Solutions made the company a kickback offer greater than $200 million, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Philadelphia alleges in court documents filed in late November. The information was contained in a court filing in which the government asks for more time for discovery in its case against the nation's largest PBM.
In 2003, the government joined a whistle-blower action against Medco alleging that the company violated federal and state false claims acts in the way it provided mail-order prescription drugs to federal employees, retirees and their families.
The original government complaint charges that the company, among other things, created false records to show that physicians were contacted to discuss the proper drug, dosage or dispensing instructions when the contact was never made.
Medco disputes the government's allegations. Spokeswoman Soraya Balzac said the $200 million refers to Medco's purchase of a database. She added that the actual amount was less because the payment was part of a contract that did not run its full length. "Any payment was appropriate," she said.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2004/12/20/gvbf1220.htm.
