Fraud and Abuse
Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text.
- KEYWORDS:
- DRUG AND NARCOTIC CONTROL
- FRAUD
- GOVERNMENT REGULATION
- MEDICAID
- PHARMACIES
- PRESCRIPTIONS, DRUG
- SUBSTANCE ABUSE DETECTION
Tens of thousands of Medicaid beneficiaries and scores of physicians and pharmacies have been involved in fraudulent or abusive prescribing of controlled substances, found the Government Accountability Office (GAO). The agency's report (http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d091004t.pdf) was presented at a September 30 hearing of the Senate Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services, and International Security.
Certain Medicaid beneficiaries, physicians, and pharmacies have engaged in fraudulent or abusive prescribing of controlled substances, said the Government Accountability Office.
(Photo credit: Nancy Honeycutt/iStockphoto.com.)
The GAO's findings were based on the agency's study of Medicaid claims paid in fiscal years 2006 and 2007 in 5 states (California, Illinois, New York, North Carolina, and Texas). The GAO said that about 65 000 Medicaid beneficiaries in the 5 states visited 6 or more physicians to acquire prescriptions for the same type of controlled substances, incurring about $63 million in Medicaid costs for these drugs. And while some of these beneficiaries might …
