LAWSUITS NEWS & LEGAL INFORMATION
Omnicare, Inc.
This is a settlement for the Nursing Homes lawsuit.
Chicago, IL: (Jun-18-07) The Inspector General of the United States Department of Health and Human Services recognized a significant whistleblower action against the nationwide pharmacy Omnicare, Inc. The suit alleged that Omnicare, the nation's largest pharmacy for nursing homes, switched drugs to garner huge profits by evading federal and state price limits. The federal false claims charge was filed by Illinois pharmacist Bernard Lisitza and his Chicago attorney, and was fought over five years.
The charges included allegations that Omnicare illegally switched the drugs of senior citizens in nursing homes and other facilities. The charges primarily involved the generic forms of the popular drugs Zantac and Prozac. Ranitidine, the generic form of Zantac, typically came in tablets. Given its popularity, the government set maximum prices that Medicaid would pay for the tablets. Ranitidine capsules were infrequently prescribed, and had no maximum prices. Allegedly, Omnicare switched patients' prescriptions for ranitidine tablets to the expensive capsules, costing taxpayers up to four times as much. For Prozac, Omnicare allegedly switched prescribed capsules to tablets. In a settlement reached, Omnicare agreed to pay $49.5 million to resolve allegations. [PR WEB: OMNICARE WHISTLEBLOWER]
Published on Jun-22-07
The charges included allegations that Omnicare illegally switched the drugs of senior citizens in nursing homes and other facilities. The charges primarily involved the generic forms of the popular drugs Zantac and Prozac. Ranitidine, the generic form of Zantac, typically came in tablets. Given its popularity, the government set maximum prices that Medicaid would pay for the tablets. Ranitidine capsules were infrequently prescribed, and had no maximum prices. Allegedly, Omnicare switched patients' prescriptions for ranitidine tablets to the expensive capsules, costing taxpayers up to four times as much. For Prozac, Omnicare allegedly switched prescribed capsules to tablets. In a settlement reached, Omnicare agreed to pay $49.5 million to resolve allegations. [PR WEB: OMNICARE WHISTLEBLOWER]
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