& Under Justice Dept. Scrutiny for Illicit Drug Payoffs, Kickbacks

[Guest guest]

http://www.naturalnews.com/028431_Big_Pharma_kickbacks.html

& Under Justice Dept. Scrutiny for

Illicit Drug Payoffs, Kickbacks

Wednesday, March 24, 2010 by:

Gutierrez, staff writer

(NaturalNews) The U.S.

Justice Department has announced that it is investigating pharmaceutical

giant & for paying kickbacks to pharmacy benefits

manager Omnicare.

Pharmacy benefits managers are supposed to negotiate on behalf of health

plans and their customers to secure lower prices from drug companies and

pharmacies. Yet according to the Justice Department, Omnicare took

millions of dollars in payments from companies such as giant

& in exchange for promoting their drugs.

" Patients have a right to depend on the integrity of the medical

advice they're getting, " said assistant attorney general Tony West.

" When kickbacks are involved, the medical judgment of the provider

is corrupted. "

Omnicare recently agreed to a $98 million settlement in the Justice

Department lawsuit against it, while IVAX pharmaceuticals agreed to pay

$14 million. According to prosecutors, IVAX paid Omnicare $8 million to

recommend its generic drugs to nursing homes and their patients.

The government alleges that & also paid such

kickbacks, in order to get Omnicare to promote its antipsychotic drug

Risperdal and discourage doctors from prescribing alternative

drugs.

Observers and insiders say that the practice of paying kickbacks is

widespread in the drug business.

" Almost invariably if we see one practice in one company, it's

happening at other companies, " U.S. Attorney Mike Loucks

said.

According to , president of pharmacy benefits manager Veritas,

the practice was open and accepted within the business when he entered it

in 2002.

" I thought it was just the industry standard, " he

said.

Burns of Taxpayers Against Fraud says that kickbacks are one of

the main ways that pharmacies get an edge on competitors who are selling

fundamentally similar products.

" In the pharmaceutical industry, the business isn't selling the best

drug, it's the best scheme of kickbacks to the prescriber, " Burns

said. " Omnicare is just one of their sales points. "

Sources for this story include:

www.businessweek.com

..

Sheri Nakken, R.N., MA, Hahnemannian

Homeopath

Vaccination Information & Choice Network, Washington State, USA

Vaccines -

http://vaccinationdangers.wordpress.com/ Homeopathy

http://homeopathycures.wordpress.com

Vaccine Dangers, Childhood Disease Classes & Homeopathy

Online/email courses - next classes start March 24, March 31, & April

1