Copyright held by The John Cooke Fraud Report. Reprint rights are granted with attribution to The John Cooke Fraud Report with a link to this website.
Eckerd, a 1,700-store chain based out of Largo, Florida, and owned by J.C. Penney Co., denies the charges. Officials believe that Eckerd’s practice of short-filling prescriptions constitutes intentional fraud. Charges are directed at the company-wide practice of supplying Medicare and Medicaid patients with partial prescriptions (ie. delivering 20 tablets when 40 have been ordered) and requesting that the patient return in a day or two to pick up the remainder of the medication. Eckerd is accused of billing Medicaid for the full cost of the medicine in all cases – even though the patient would often never return to pick up the balance of his medication. In those cases in which customers paid cash, they were charged only for the pills actually provided.
At least 180,000 claims have been identified as questionable by State and Federal officials who filed the complaint in US District Court in Tampa.
Eckerd has vigorously denied wrongdoing. The stakes are high. If the drug giant is convicted, the penalties could far exceed the $12 million being directly disputed. The complaint seeks treble damages plus fines of up to $10,000 on each of the 180,000 claims. And that’s a lot of money.
© Copyright 1998 Alikim Media