Settlement requires pharmaceutical company to pay Oregon $300,000 and bans Omnicare nursing home pharmacy consultants from promoting on behalf of drug companies
Attorney General John Kroger today announced a novel settlement with Omnicare, Inc., a Kentucky-based Fortune 500 company and leading provider of pharmaceutical care for seniors. The settlement will pay Oregon $300,000 and reform systematic conflicts of interest that increase health care costs.
“Cracking down on health care fraud is a crucial part of bringing down the cost of providing medical coverage,” said Keith Dubanevich, Chief of Staff and Special Counsel to Attorney General Kroger. “This agreement goes a step further by enacting reforms that combat serious conflicts of interest.”
In 2009, Omnicare reached a $75 million agreement with the federal government and numerous states that resolved allegations that the company accepted millions of dollars in kickbacks from drug maker Johnson & Johnson to induce the prescription of Risperdal, an atypical antipsychotic medication that has been linked to serious adverse effects in geriatric patients.
Omnicare also agreed to establish strict limitations on its management of therapeutic drug interchange programs, which substitute less expensive therapeutically equivalent drugs for the drugs originally prescribed for the patient.
Oregon’s settlement goes a step further, banning Omnicare’s nursing home pharmacy consultants from promoting drugs on behalf of drug companies. This novel reform will help eliminate conflicts of interest between pharmacist recommendations and patient care.
Today’s settlement also requires Omnicare to pay $300,000 to the Oregon Department of Justice.
Senior Assistant Attorney David Hart, Assistant Attorney in Charge of Financial Fraud/Consumer Procection, and Senior Assistant Attorney General Greg Smith handled the case for the Oregon Department of Justice.
Attorney General John Kroger leads the Oregon Department of Justice. The Department’s mission is to fight crime and fraud, protect the environment, improve child welfare, promote a positive business climate, and defend the rights of all Oregonians.
- Omnicare AVC (pdf)
Contact:
Tony Green, (503) 378-6002 tony.green@doj.state.or.us