The largest drugmakers in America have paid at least $8 billion in fines for repeated Medicare and Medicaid fraud in the past 10 years, but still participate in the federal programs due to a great need for their products, according to a USA Today report.
Though government investigators could exclude pharmaceutical giants like Pfizer and Merck from Medicare and Medicaid, beneficiaries of those programs would then lose access to drugs patented through the companies. Federal officials also said corporate integrity agreements — which consist of government oversight and the company's promise to not defraud the government again — are not stringent enough to deter repeated fraud.
Based on these loopholes, the government is designing new strategies to prevent pharmaceutical fraud, according to the report. In 2010, the government announced that investigators would go after individuals within a company rather than exclude an entire company from Medicare or Medicaid. Federal agencies, such as the Department of Justice and Food and Drug Administration, have also considered other strategies in settlement agreements, such as taking away a company's patent rights.
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Though government investigators could exclude pharmaceutical giants like Pfizer and Merck from Medicare and Medicaid, beneficiaries of those programs would then lose access to drugs patented through the companies. Federal officials also said corporate integrity agreements — which consist of government oversight and the company's promise to not defraud the government again — are not stringent enough to deter repeated fraud.
Based on these loopholes, the government is designing new strategies to prevent pharmaceutical fraud, according to the report. In 2010, the government announced that investigators would go after individuals within a company rather than exclude an entire company from Medicare or Medicaid. Federal agencies, such as the Department of Justice and Food and Drug Administration, have also considered other strategies in settlement agreements, such as taking away a company's patent rights.
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