DOJ Subpoenas UnitedHealth For Documents Related To Omnicare

The Department of Justice is investigating potential health care offenses committed by nursing-home pharmacy company Omnicare that involve alleged attempts to steer patients to certain Medicare prescription drug plans, according to a court document, Bloomberg/Hartford Courant reports (Bloomberg/Hartford Courant, 11/7). UnitedHealth Group said last week that on Sept. 24 it received a subpoena from DOJ requesting information about Omnicare "under its authority to investigate health care fraud offenses."

The Office of the Attorney General in Boston requested that UnitedHealth relinquish all documents used in a separate U.S. District Court case under which Omnicare has filed suit against UnitedHealth for alleged illegal negotiations that left Omnicare with a lower reimbursement rate. The UnitedHealth subpoena requested that the insurer provide all documents in that suit concerning "attempts by Omnicare to steer patients to (Medicare prescription drug) plans."

UnitedHealth said that it turned in all documents requested to DOJ and that the department said it will work directly with Omnicare to obtain any additional documents. The Sept. 24 subpoena is separate from an August request for documents related to Omnicare's alleged steering of Medicare beneficiaries and its rebate arrangements, UnitedHealth said.

Omnicare spokesperson Andy Brimmer on Tuesday said that the company does not comment on continuing litigation, adding, "Omnicare and our peers deal with government inquiries and reviews on a regular basis. We believe we've complied with all applicable laws related to Medicare Part D" (Wisenberg Brin, Wall Street Journal, 11/7).

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