Huge US pharmacy fraud
July 19, 2012
INVESTIGATORS in New York have
laid charges in a multimillion dollar
fraud scheme which involved
suspect “second-hand” HIV drugs.
Allion Healthcare is accused of
purchasing millions of dollars worth
of the medications since April 2011,
but the scam is believed to have
been under way for seven years.
Allion operates the MOMS
pharmacy chain which has outlets
across the USA.
Court papers made public
yesterday by the New York Post say
that an unidentified Allion worker
was “in league” with the fraudsters
who arranged for public Medicaid
patients to sell their unused HIV
prescription medications to socalled
“collectors”.
The pills were then passed along
via a series of middlemen including
“corrupt wholesalers” who
distributed them to pharmacies
across the USA.
According to the Post report,
some of the drugs were worth
about $1600 for a one month
supply, but were dispensed to the
original recipients for free under
Federal health programs.
It is a “double-dip fraud of
gigantic proportions,” said US
attorney Preet Bhahara, who said
that Medicaid often paid to
purchase the same drugs twice.
As well as the scam, many of the
medications may have been
damaged by handling during the
fraudulent “recycling” chain
because they were stored at high
temperatures.
It’s also alleged that chemicals
were used to remove expiration
dates, meaning tablets were sold
after they had expired.
Nearly 50 people were charged
this week for being part of the
scheme, with further arrests
expected as the probe continues.
The report says that the FBI
seized more than $16m worth of
the drugs including over 33,000
bottles and 250,000 loose pills.
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