Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court extended the time in which a private party may bring a suit under the False Claims Act (FCA). The decision – United States ex rel. Hunt v. Cochise Consultancy – extended the statute of limitation to bring an FCA action up to 10 years from the date of the
Most Common Errors when Working with Controlled Substances
Despite many articles, seminars, and educational opinions written on compliance and legal implications of dispensing, ordering, and storing controlled substances, it still remains the number one reason for disciplinary actions across the nation. This article focuses on the most cited violations of state or federal laws pertaining to working with the controlled substances.
- Improperly performed
Accepting drugs on false identity – How a wholesaler got into trouble
In 2015, the owner and pharmacist-in-charge of Lane Pharmacy passed away. The Pharmacy, however, carried on as nothing had happened. Allegedly, the Pharmacy continued to operate without a pharmacist. This “unusual” Pharmacy operated until 2017, when the California Board of Pharmacy received a complaint that non-licensed individuals were dispensing medications. The Board investigation revealed that
Avoiding iabilities when measuring blood-glucose
This month, I will be presenting a series of webinars organized by Nova Biomedical aimed to educate healthcare practitioners on what constitutes off-label use of blood-glucose meters (BGM). My part of the presentation will focus on the risks associated with the off-label use of BMGs and the ways to avoid potential liabilities.
Why did
McKesson has allegedly supplied pharmacies with illicit opioids
The FDA has issued its first warning letter under the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) to McKesson Corp. for tampering with opioid medications.
The FDA said the distributor didn’t address several instances of reported drug tampering for medications including opioids and treatments for HIV, seizures, bipolar disorder and high blood pressure.
Unwrapping a Multi-Million Dollar Scheme of Tricare Fraud
This is a story (with a moral) of a Mississippi pharmacy that decided to make some money on its compounding pain and scar creams. To accomplish the goal of increasing its market share, it contracted with a marketing company to promote its compounds into other states. So far so good. The marketing company, however, insisted
The largest settlement against one of the biggest drug distributors. AmerisourceBergen agreed to pay $885 million to settle fraud charges.
Last week the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced its largest settlement with a drug distributor – AmerisourceBergen (ABC) – in the combined amount of $885 million.
ABC, through its Pre-Filled Syringe Program, allegedly caused numerous false claims to be submitted to the federal healthcare programs (1) for unapproved new drugs; (2) for drugs
Can I employ an excluded individual? A recent OIG’s Opinion.
Many pharmacies and clinics run background checks on their employees to assure that individuals have not been excluded from any federal health care program. Most healthcare providers incorporate this procedure into their Policies & Procedures requiring to check the OIG’s List of Excluded Individuals/Entities, as well as state databases before any employment decision is made.
Auto-refilling Medicaid prescriptions? Be ready for fraud allegations.
Walmart and Sam’s Club have agreed to pay $825,000 to resolve allegations that they have violated the False Claims Act by automatically refilling Medicaid prescriptions. The allegations came from the state of Minnesota, which – as many other states – does not allow automatic refill of Medicaid prescriptions without an explicit request from the beneficiary
A whistleblower lawsuit accuses Caremark of Part D fraud.
Recently, there were several large federal and state crackdowns on Medicare and Medicaid billing practices involving PBMs brought by whistleblowers under the False Claims Act. The Act allows anyone to sue any individual or company that is defrauding the government and recover funds on the government’s behalf by filing a qui tam lawsuit. The lawsuit