Topics
Recent Updates
September 08, 2010
TAKE STEPS TO PROTECT YOURSELF PART THREE
September 01, 2010
TAKE STEPS TO PROTECT YOURSELF PART TWO
August 27, 2010
TAKE STEPS TO PROTECT YOURSELF
August 25, 2010
HOW GOES THE HOUSING RECOVERY
August 23, 2010
DEATH GRIP OF DEBT
NURSING HOMES, DRUG COMPANIES AND DOCTORS ARE THEY ALL IN IT TOGETHER
Posted by: Darrell Castle
January 18, 2010
Topic: Personal Injury
The federal government has accused drug maker, Johnson and Johnson of paying kickbacks to a big nursing home pharmacy company to get the company to prescribe more of its drugs including the antipsychotic Risperdal. Quoting the New York Times; "The payments violated the federal anti-kickback statute and led Omnicare, a pharmacy company specializing in dispensing drugs to nursing home residents, to submit false claims to Medicaid, the complaint charged." According to Carmen M. Ortiz, United States Attorney for Massachusetts, "kickbacks in the nursing home pharmacy context are particularly nefarious." Senator Herb Kohl, chairman of the Senate Special Committee on Aging said, "nursing home residents comprise a vulnerable population that should be able to trust that their physician's advice is based on medical expertise, not financial self interest."
This is a very egregious accusation because for companies to bribe doctors to prescribe anti-psychotics to their most vulnerable patients is about as low as it gets. This is especially bad when the market capitalization of these drug companies is as high as it is now. Omnicare alone has a market cap of about 3.1 billion and serves more than 1.4 million residents of nursing homes, assisted living, and other health care facilities in 47 states and Canada, according to the company's own web site. Johnson and Johnson denied the allegations and said that it looks forward to defending its actions in court despite the fact that last November, Omnicare paid $98 million to settle civil charges by the government that it had violated the false Claims Act for engaging in kickback schemes with Johnson and Johnson and a smaller drug company.
Government regulations are designed to protect nursing home residents from medication such as being sedated with anti-psychotics for the sake of convenience or discipline. Nursing homes are required to arrange for an outside consulting pharmacist to review the medication regimen of patients at least once a month and the outside pharmacist has a duty to report any irregularities. The government's complaint raises the question of whether the drug companies used the consulting pharmacists for corporate gain. Johnson and Johnson is not the only one. Last January, the drug maker Eli Lilly pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and paid 1.415 billion to settle criminal and civil charges that it marketed its anti-psychotic Zyprexa for the treatment of elderly people with dementia.
Should you are a loved one become a resident of a nursing home, watch the medication very, very carefully and if you suspect or notice a problem, get legal advice.
