Thursday, November 12, 2009

One Patient: Sixty Seven Different Drugs

The scariest wrinkle in the Omnicare kickback case is just how vulnerable old people in nursing homes are to schemes in which drug companies allegedly induce pharmacies to prescribe drugs they otherwise wouldn’t.

One patient cited by the government’s complaint received 67 — sixty-seven! – different drugs under Omnicare’s “care”. Those drugs included Cipro, Neurontin, Heparin, Pepcid, Oxycodone and Seroquel or their generics, according to the complaint.

Omnicare, the country’s largest nursing home pharmacy chain, paid $98 million to settle the case.

There’s no suggestion that these drugs were prescribed needlessly (some patients are indeed very sick), however this patient seems to have been “cycled” through various drug categories — hence Seroquel and Neurontin, and Pepcid and Zantac. (Ironically, Risperdal seems to be the only drug the patient didn’t get.)

Full Article and Source:
In Risperdal Kickback Case, One Nursing Home Patient Received 67 Different Drugs

Download the Complaint from the Phillips and Cohen Website

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Drugging also enables guardianship. Bad guardians file for "emergency" hearings, then drug up the person, so when he/she goes to court (if the guardian permits it), then the person gives the appearance of needing a guardian.

StandUp said...

I have a friend who moonlights as a nurse in a nursing home and she said every patient in that particular nursing home was on some sort of "calming" drug. Every one.

It's likely the same almost everywhere.

LoriView said...

It is impossible that all those drugs were administered. I imagine stuff like Oxycodone was resold.

jerri said...

i agree anon when a person with assets is a target of the guardianship racket the drugging increases their motto is: if the aip is not incapacitated they know how to get the job done i guess this is all in the best interest of the ward? hardly, these guardianship vultures learned how to twist the system into a get rich quick racket guardianship works in the best interest of.....
the guardian

Sue said...

Who paid for all these drugs? And, how many others are there? Anyone want to add this up?

Add to that in my opinion this is criminal. Anyone going to prison?

Anonymous said...

Overdrugging is a form of Medicare / Medicaid fraud!

Anonymous said...

Good point, LoriView. Some of the drugs may be sold for profit and only listed as prescribed to patients.

Max said...

Amazing!

Barbara said...

A very cozy and profitable relationship between big pharma and nursing facilities.