 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Pharmacy |
| Founded | April 1981 |
| Headquarters | , U.S. |
| Parent | CVS Health |
| Website | http://www.omnicare.com/ |
Omnicare, Inc. is an American company working in the health-care industry. It was established in April 1981 as a spinoff of healthcare businesses from Chemed and W. R. Grace and Company. It is currently a pharmacy specializing in nursing homes. [1] In 2015, Omnicare was acquired by CVS Health. [2]
In 2012, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sued Omnicare to block its hostile takeover of its rival PharMerica under federal anti-trust law. The FTC alleged that the acquisition would boost drug costs and inflate Medicare expenditures by consolidating the industry and reducing price competition. [3] PharMerica owned 97 long-term-care pharmacies, while Omnicare owned approximately 200. The merger would have given Omnicare a 57% market share versus two percent for its nearest, non-PharMerica rival. [4] Because of the FTC opposition, the takeover was terminated.
In November 2009, Omnicare paid US$ 98,000,000 to the federal government to settle five "qui tam" (whistleblower) lawsuits and government charges that the company had paid or solicited a variety of kickbacks. [5] The company admitted no wrongdoing. [6] The charges included allegations that Omnicare solicited and received kickbacks from a pharmaceutical manufacturer Johnson & Johnson, in exchange for agreeing to recommend that physicians prescribe Risperdal, a Johnson & Johnson antipsychotic drug, to nursing home patients.[ citation needed ]
Starting in 2006, healthcare entrepreneur Adam B. Resnick sued Omnicare, a major supplier of drugs to nursing homes, under the False Claims Act, as well as the parties to the company's illegal kickback schemes. Omnicare allegedly paid kickbacks to nursing home operators to secure business, which constitutes Medicare and Medicaid fraud. Omnicare allegedly had paid $50 million to the owners (Leonard Grunstein and Rubin Schron) of the Mariner Health Care Inc. and SavaSeniorCare Administrative Services LLC nursing home chains in exchange for the right to continue providing pharmacy services to the nursing homes. [7]
In 2010, Omnicare settled Resnick's False Claims Act suit that had been taken up by the U.S. Department of Justice by paying $19.8 million to the federal government, while Mariner and SavaSeniorCare settled for $14 million. [8] [9]
A second whistleblower lawsuit filed against Omnicare by Resnick and Total Pharmacy Services V.P. Maureen Nehls related to kickbacks that had been part of its 2004 acquisition of Total Pharmacy Services was settled (circa 2013) for $17.2 million by Omnicare and $5 million by the Total Pharmacy owners. Reportedly Omnicare was set to acquire JobMinglr.com for an undisclosed sum. [10]
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The False Claims Act of 1863 (FCA) is an American federal law that imposes liability on persons and companies who defraud governmental programs. It is the federal government's primary litigation tool in combating fraud against the government. The law includes a qui tam provision that allows people who are not affiliated with the government, called "relators" under the law, to file actions on behalf of the government. This is informally called "whistleblowing", especially when the relator is employed by the organization accused in the suit. Persons filing actions under the Act stand to receive a portion of any recovered damages.
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In common law, a writ of qui tam is a writ through which private individuals who assist a prosecution can receive for themselves all or part of the damages or financial penalties recovered by the government as a result of the prosecution. Its name is an abbreviation of the Latin phrase qui tam pro domino rege quam pro se ipso in hac parte sequitur, meaning "[he] who sues in this matter for the king as well as for himself."
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Adam B. Resnick is an American health care entrepreneur, public speaker, author, and professional whistleblower.
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Health care fraud includes "snake oil" marketing, health insurance fraud, drug fraud, and medical fraud. Health insurance fraud occurs when a company or an individual defrauds an insurer or government health care program, such as Medicare or equivalent State programs. The manner in which this is done varies, and persons engaging in fraud are always seeking new ways to circumvent the law. Damages from fraud can be recovered by use of the False Claims Act, most commonly under the qui tam provisions which rewards an individual for being a "whistleblower", or relator (law).
A kickback is a form of negotiated bribery in which a commission is paid to the bribe-taker in exchange for services rendered. Generally speaking, the remuneration is negotiated ahead of time. The kickback varies from other kinds of bribes in that there is implied collusion between agents of the two parties, rather than one party extorting the bribe from the other. The purpose of the kickback is usually to encourage the other party to cooperate in the scheme.
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