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Pharmacy chains investigated for 'shortfilling'
Posted
11-22-99 Washington. As part of its effort to crack down on pharmacies that shortfill prescriptions, the Department of Justice is investigating national pharmacy chains. The agency is cracking down on pharmacies that bill federal health plans such as Medicaid for full prescriptions even when the prescriptions are only partially filled, said Department of Justice spokesperson Chris Watney. The practice resulted in a $7.6 million settlement in September by Walgreen Corp., whose pharmacies fill more prescriptions than any other chain in the country. The Department of Justice alleged in a suit that the corporation filed false insurance claims because of its "professional practice" of shortfilling. According to the suit, "it is a common occurrence for [Walgreen] pharmacists to be 'short' when undertaking to fill and dispense prescription medications approximately 6 to 8 percent of the time." The Justice Department estimates that just 50 percent of patients "owed" the rest of their prescriptions actually pick up their medication, though most pharmacies bill the full amount. Watney said there are no estimates on how much this practice costs the government each year and refused comment on pending investigations of other pharmacies. Another major pharmacy chain, Eckerd Corp., has also faced lawsuits from at least two states alleging similar practices. National pharmacist groups have maintained that the practice was the result of a flaw in the insurance billing systems that pharmacies use. Jann Skelton, RPh, senior director of professional practice developments for the American Pharmaceutical Association, said the standard computer claims form used by pharmacies left no room for corrections to be made for prescriptions that were short. The problem has been resolved with a new form, she said. Before, however, pharmacies would have generated as many as four billing claims to correct the error for patients. "I absolutely do not believe it was malicious intent. It was simply trying to ensure that patients got their medication," Skelton said. "There was no way to avoid this under the [previous] system. It put pharmacists in an incredibly difficult position. The reality was that pharmacists weren't doing this to defraud the government, but to help their patients. Most pharmacists didn't know they were doing anything wrong."
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