In today's Los Angeles Times, the spotlight is being shown on a small pharmacy here in Florida that is serving as a role model for other drug stores across the country, to do their part in fighting fraud in the system. And there's a lot of fraud, as you know if you've been reading the news or following this blog. Billions of dollars scarfed up in overbilling Medicare and Medicaid on drug charges, for example.
Which is where Ven-a-Care's story comes in.
This Florida drug store is acting as a whistleblower in a simple way that is having complex repercussions. For example, the attorney general for the State of California attributes this Florida pharmacy's efforts with enabling his office in 2005 to file suit based upon one drug, vancomycin, against 39 drug companies with recovery efforts totalling almost $100 million thus far.
What is Ven-A-Care is doing?
Florida's own Ven-A-Care is taking the time to check into drug prices on the market and compare what Ven-A-Care is paying for certain drugs with the amounts that the drug manufacturers (read that: Big Pharma) is listing on their reimbursement requests to the federal and state governments. When there is a big, fat discrepancy then Ven-A-Care files a whistleblower suit (filed pursuant to special laws that allow an individual plaintiff to file a lawsuit against wrongdoing on behalf of the governmental entity being wronged).
They are soon joined by the appropriate governmental entity (federal or state) that has been defrauded, and the courtroom battles begin.
Not bad, for a little drug store here in Florida. Wonder if Pfizer and the other Big Pharma powerhouses know the name Ven-A-Care yet?
Of course they do. In today's PharmaLot article, they're already calling for caps on the amount of money that can be given to whistleblowers in these kinds of suits -- and pointing to the recognition given Ven-A-Care in the Los Angeles Times article as the reason to do so.
By on January 25, 2011 1:43 PM
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