CVS’ Omnicare fined $948M for filling false prescriptions

WPRI News 12

Reporter: Elizabeth Turley

CVS Health plans to appeal after a judge in the Southern District of New York ordered its Omnicare unit to pay more than $948 million in penalties and damages related to invalid prescriptions.

The initial court filing, brought by the United States on behalf of a whistleblower, alleges that from 2010 to 2018, the company’s computerized “cycle fill” system “routinely generated false prescriptions,” leading its pharmacists to dispense the drugs to patients without valid prescriptions and bill Medicare and Medicaid.

According to court documents, Omnicare, which provides pharmacy services to assisted living and senior care facilities, submitted 3.34 million claims to Medicare and Medicaid for false prescriptions. CVS Health was deemed to have “caused” the submission of 1.01 million of those claims by failing to stop Omnicare from filing them after it purchased the company in 2015... Continue Reading