Can Big Pharma do anything right?
We read from Reuters that another pharmaceutical company -- this time Medco from New Jersey -- just settled a fraud case with the DOJ for a whopping $155 Million. Do I need to say it or can we all agree -- thatsa lotta sheckels:)
Money quotes:
"Hidden financial agreements with drug manufacturers and health plans can influence which drugs patients receive, the price we all pay for drugs, and whether pharmacists serve patients with their undivided professional judgment," Assistant Attorney General Peter Keisler said in a statement."
"The government also charged that Medco violated an anti-kickback law by soliciting and accepting payments from drug makers to favor their products on Medco's published list of drugs, and by paying kickbacks to get health plans to award contracts to provide the mail order pharmacy benefits."
You wanna hear Medco's reponse? It's so laughable, it would make Bart Simpson blush:
"Even though we did nothing wrong, for our company and our clients it is the right decision to put these aged matters in the past," Medco said in a statement.
Where have we heard that before?
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