Omnicare, Inc. will pay the federal government and 43 states $49.5 million to settle allegations that the pharmacy service provider defrauded Medicaid.
The suit, which was initiated by two whistle-blower actions brought under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act, alleged that Omnicare substituted different forms of prescribed drugs (such as tablets for capsules) solely to increase their profit.
The settlement was announced by the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois and additional details are available in the press release dated November 14, 2006.
The press release notes that this was the first time a U.S Attorney’s Office joined forces with the National Association of Medicaid Fraud Control Units (NAMFCU) to conduct a joint health care fraud investigation. NAMFCU is an organization of 49 state Medicaid Fraud Control Units.