Source: Milwaukee Journal SentinelAug.迷你倉庫 09--A Waukesha pharmacist, alarmed that potentially dangerous drugs were being issued under her license but without a doctor's prescription, brought the problem to the attention of her bosses at PharMerica, a nationwide pharmaceuticals services firm.When they ignored her, Jennifer Denk contacted federal authorities. Soon after agents raided PharMerica's Pewaukee plant, she was fired.That was in 2009. Denk filed a federal whistle blower's suit that year that was only recently unsealed. On Friday, federal prosecutors prompted by Denk's tip weighed in with their own civil action, filed in Milwaukee federal court. The government says in its suit that the company illegally dispensed drugs like OxyContin and Fentanyl and falsely billed the government."Pharmacies are prohibited by law from dispensing Schedule II narcotics, which have the highest potential for abuse of any prescription drug, without a valid prescription from a physician," said Stuart Delery, assistant attorney general for the civil division of the Department of Justice."As we have done today, the Department of Justice will take action to protect the integrity of federal health care program funds and hold those who violate the law accountable."Denk said she was motivated by her professional ethics and concerns for the end users of the potentially dangerous drugs."I took an oath when I graduated from pharmacy school," she said in a statement, "and I felt I had not choice but to follow my oath."But blowing the whistle can also pay off financially. In all, between triple damages available to federal whistle blowers, or fines for each of the allegedly false invoices to the government, PharMerica could face more than $100 million in damages, according to Denk's attorney, Nola Hitchcock Cross.Louisville, KY-based PharMerica contracts to provide pharmacy services for long-term care facilities around the country. Between 2007 and 2009, it filled about 40 million prescriptions, nearly half covered by Medicare. According to court records, it was filing more than 56,000 orders a month just from Pewaukee.An agency that handled public relations for PharMerica did not return calls seeking comment Friday.Under the Civil War era False Claims Act, citizens with evidence of fraud against government contracts can sue on behalf of the government to recover the stolen funds. The suits are filed under seal for 60 days to allow government prosecutors time to consider intervening. If they do, the suits can remain under seal for much longer, as in Denk's case.The U.S. Department of Justice reports that in the last fiscal year, individual whistle blowers filed a record 647 suits that led to recover of $3.3 billion. When the government prevails, the whistle blowers are entitled to 15% to 25% of the amount recovered.In the past four years, the Justice Department has recovered more than $14.8 billion through False Claims Act cases, including $10.8 billion in cases involving fraud against federal health care programs.James Santelle, the U.S. attorney in Milwaukee, said Friday's complaint "reflects the abiding commitment of the Justice Department to the qui tam process, encouraging people with information about alleged fraud and abuse to report it in a timely and effective manner."In儲存2011, the founder of Mequon foot care firm was fined $27 million and sentenced to prison in a fraud uncovered by in part by a whistle blower who worked in the factory.According to Denk's complaint:Denk went to work in Pewaukee in October 2008. Like all PharMerica pharmacists, she signed an agreement to repay a $10,000 hiring bonus if she quit within two years for any reason, even over illegal practices.By May 2009, Denk had notified the Drug Enforcement Administration of problems, and the agency sent an agent to Pewaukee to inspect records. When the agent told PharMerica officials to send in stacks of records, Denk contends, her bosses told her to ignore the order or to only send records she could modify to look as though they met regulations.Denk, 33, then told PharmMerica's head of human resources that her supervisor had directed her to commit a felony. He reminded her of the $10,000 repayment requirement, and said Denk's supervisor was only "protecting the company."Denk's lawsuit suggests the practices she observed in Pewaukee were standard throughout PharMerica's nationwide pharmaceutical management centers. The suit says those practices included: billing Medicare for drugs sent to deceased patients; double-billing for some prescriptions; failing to credit the government for returned prescriptions; and billing for one drug while providing a different kind.It also claims PharMerica violated federal anti-kickback statutes, by steering buyers to drug companies that paid rebates to PharMerica, and also by letting nursing homes distribute narcotics from certain kit boxes without keeping the required records. PharMerica would then simply refill the boxes at any time, the suit claims, as an inducement for the facility to keep its contract for other prescriptions with PharMerica.Experts say the "kit boxes," meant for emergencies when a patient's prescription has not yet been filled, could be subject to thefts, as many of the drugs they contain -- like oxycodone -- are in high demand by those who abuse the drug.The government's complaint indicates that staff -- not patient's doctors --at client nursing homes would fax in request for refills of addictive pain killers and others Schedule II drugs to PharMerica. There, workers would assign another 60 day supply --along with an "emergency" supply -- and then send a template to the patient's doctor for signature.But the templates often returned unsigned, according to prosecutors. Boxes of unsigned prescription templates were recovered in the 2009 Pewaukee raid, in what employees called "the Harry Potter room."Prosecutors claim the same procedures were employed by PharMerica at its Florida and California locations, and to a lesser extent at one in Colorado.PharMerica had been warned about such practices before. A DEA audit of the company's Indiana facility in 2000 led to a warning about its non-compliance.The company's own auditor in 2007 prepared a slide show warning that only one pharmacy was following the rules correctly, and most were still sending out drugs without prescription. It even included a slide that read "No prescription equals false claim."Copyright: ___ (c)2013 the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Visit the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel at .jsonline.com Distributed by MCT Information Services新蒲崗迷你倉
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