Omnicare to settle whistle-blower lawsuit alleging kickback scheme
Long-term care pharmacy provider, Omnicare, may have reached a settlement in a whistle-blower lawsuit brought against the company five years ago.
According to Bloomberg, Omnicare reached a “settlement in principle” to resolve allegations that it paid a kickback to one of the owners of Total Pharmacy Services, a pharmacy company Omnicare purchased in 2004, and that it submitted false claims for reimbursement.
The suit brought by whistle-blower Maureen Nehls alleged the kickback to Total Pharmacy Services’ co-owner, Philip Esformes, and his father, Morris Esformes, was included in the purchase price.
As reported by the Chicago Tribune, the suit alleged that about $16 million of the $32 million purchase price was distributed as a kickback to gain long-term pharmacy contracts with nursing homes associated with Philip and Morris Esformes.
National news reports said that the financial details of the possible settlement were not available and that the settlement does not include the Esformes'. According to Bloomberg, the Esformes' have rejected settlement offers and deny wrongdoing.
Bloomberg noted that Omnicare, in court papers, has also denied wrongdoing.
Omnicare has had its hands full in recent months. Last winter, it dropped its hostile bid to take over rival PharMerica and in the spring agreed to a civil penalty of $50 million to settle claims that it improperly distributed controlled substances to nursing home residents. In June, its CEO and director, John Figueroa resigned. While the company searches for his replacement, John Workman, Omnicare’s president and CFO, has stepped in as interim CEO and director.
[See also: Omnicare settles federal case for $50M; FTC dismisses suit against Omnicare; Omnicare CEO resigns.]
