In Case You Missed This... 'Blowing The Whistle On Drug Firms' - LATimes

[WillyT]

Blowing the whistle on drug firms
A tiny pharmacy in Florida has built a lucrative niche market: filing lawsuits against drug makers that overcharge Medicare and Medicaid.
January 24, 2011
By Andrew Zajac, Washington Bureau

<snip>

Reporting from Washington — Last December, a specialty pharmacy in Florida enjoyed its best month ever — posting a hefty $168.7 million in revenues. But it wasn't filling prescriptions that made Ven-A-Care of the Florida Keys Inc. such a success. Tiny Ven-A-Care has developed a lucrative niche market: blowing the whistle on drug companies that overcharge Medicare and Medicaid — and collecting tens of millions of dollars in reward money.

Unlike most whistle-blowers who help the government with one case after they encounter wrongdoing, Ven-A-Care has filed suits alleging fraudulent conduct against dozens of drug companies supplying pharmacies and healthcare providers.

The company's whistle-blowing essentially works like this: The company conducts research, comparing the prices it paid for drugs with the prices reported by drug makers to the government for reimbursement. Ven-A-Care files suit, on behalf of the government, when it spots large discrepancies between the two sets of prices.

The spreads can be dramatic.

A 2005 California suit alleged that a 1-gram vial of the antibiotic vancomycin was sold to providers for $6.29, but billed to Medi-Cal for $58.37, while 50-milligram tablets of the blood pressure medication atenolol were billed to pharmacies at $3.04 and to Medi-Cal at $70.30.

<snip>

More: http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jan/24/nation/la-na-whistle-blower-20110124

:kick:

[siligut]

1. Florida is rampant with fraud

Bilking Medicare is organized crime there. I am thrilled whenever I see it coming to light.

[lonestarnot]

2. Excellent! Bookmarking! Thanks WillyT.

[WillyT]

4. You Are Quite Welcome !!!

:hi:

[somone]

3. Recommended

[WillyT]

5. Thanks... I Think This Is Really Important !!!

:hi:

[upi402]

6. Criminal, but no political opposition or rule of law anymore. n/t k/r

[proud2BlibKansan]

7. A guy I knew in high school went to prison for this

He was a pharmacist who owned his own company and overbilled Medicare for years. Don't know how he eventually got caught but he's been in prison for several years now.

[Enthusiast]

11. A feel-good story -thanks. nt

[saras]

13. Better than nothing, but...

Too bad it's always the small operators that end up in prison and the executives of large corporations doing the same thing pay a small fine with the money they've stolen through the process and then go on their way.

[SOS]

8. Pfizer guilty on racketeering charges

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/29/business/29pfizer.html

[WillyT]

9. Good !!!

:woohoo:

:hi:

:kick:

[joeunderdog]

16. Then if corporations are people...

can't we lock em up?

[Enthusiast]

10. K&R! This is fantastic!

I imagine this abuse is commonplace in Ohio too.

[Mnemosyne]

12. KnR n/t

[no limit]

14. This is a perfect example of why we need tort reform

oh, wait...

[Tsiyu]

15. Fighting back

I'm impressed...hope they use some of the funds to help the uninsured.



You always give the best thread, WillyT! (Sorry, I couldn't resist) :P