Texas pharmacy regulators have new law to scrutinize financial ties to doctors Kevin Krause
Pharmacy technicians work in a sterile compounding lab in North Dallas in October 2012. (Brad Loper/The Dallas Morning News)
Physician ownership and investment in compounding pharmacies is starting to get more attention and scrutiny with an expanding federal investigation of kickbacks in Texas and other states.
Investigators want to know if compounding pharmacies are illegally paying doctors to write prescriptions for their products and services, including pain creams and DNA tests.
RXpress Pharmacy, of Fort Worth, is currently being investigated for possible violations of the anti-kickback law by the Department of Defense due to its use of Tricare money.
Federal authorities usually target cases of fraud that are in the tens of millions of dollars involving federal health insurance programs like Medicare and Tricare, which is for the U.S. military.
But for schemes on a smaller scale, Texas regulators now have their own weapon.
A new law that took effect in September allows the Texas State Board of Pharmacy to inspect a pharmacy’s “financial records” in response to a specific complaint against the pharmacy.
Those records were previously off limits.
Sen. Charles Schwertner, R-Georgetown, added that provision to a bill he authored last year to address concerns he has with compound pharmacies seeking physician investors to drum up business.
Schwertner said the board could issue discipline against a pharmacy if an impropriety is found. The pharmacy board could also refer the case to the Texas Attorney General or local district attorney for prosecution under state law, he said.
He said it will give the pharmacy board “more teeth” to take action against compound pharmacies.
It’s legal for physicians to own or invest in a pharmacy in Texas as long as they disclose it to patients who they refer to the business.
from WordPress http://ift.tt/1Ledu0l
No comments:
Post a Comment