MEDIA
40% Of High-Prescribing Docs Get Pharma Perks
Psychiatrist Velandy Manohar Connecticut Health I-Team by Lisa Chedekel Jul 28, 2012 In 2010 and 2011, Dr. Irene Abramovich of West Hartford was the state’s top prescriber of Invega, an antipsychotic medication marketed by Janssen Pharmaceuticals. She also was in the top five prescribers of Zyprexa, an antipsychotic marketed by Eli Lilly, in 2008 and 2009. Drug company reports show Janssen paid Abramovich $11,900 in speaking fees and travel expenses in 2010. Eli Lilly paid her $26,000 as a speaker in 2009, and more than $47,000 for speaking and travel in 2010. Similarly, in 2010 and 2011, Dr. [...]
Fat Cat Miami Chief Psych
Feeds at Taxpayer Trough
Feeds at Taxpayer Trough
Charles NemeroffUniversity of Miami medical school psychiatry chair Pharmalot NIH Insists Latest Nemeroff Grant Is Kosher By Ed Silverman August 13th, 2012 Three months ago, US Senator Chuck Grassley demanded that the National Institutes of Health justify a recent decision to award a multi-million-dollar research grant to Charles Nemeroff, the University of Miami medical school psychiatry chair, who has been at the center of a far-reaching probe into conflicts of interest involving academic researchers and the pharmaceutical industry. The grant is for research into post-traumatic stress disorder. As we reported previously, the grant was made three years after the [...]
Boy Grows Breasts – Settles Lawsuit with Psych Drug Maker on First Day of Trial
Bloomberg J&J Settles Risperdal Lawsuit on Opening Day of Trial By Jef Feeley and Margaret Cronin Fisk Sep 10, 2012 Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) settled a lawsuit on the first day of a trial over claims its antipsychotic drug Risperdal caused a male plaintiff to grow breast tissue, one of his lawyers told a state judge in Philadelphia. The lawsuit by Aron Banks, 21, was the first to go to trial on claims that Risperdal caused boys to grow breasts. Another trial on the same claim is set to begin Sept. 20 in Philadelphia. The terms of the settlement are [...]
BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD TERMINATES ALL FLORIDA PSYCHIATRISTS
PSYCHSEARCH.NET BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD TERMINATES ALL FLORIDA PSYCHIATRISTS - One Year Later By Ken Kramer August 15, 2012 Psychiatrists are among the lowest-paid of all physicians because, unlike other doctors, they do not bill by the procedure and are reimbursed by time, this according to Bill Gallagher, of Gainesville, Florida who promotes himself as a "human rights advocate". So, it was especially hard for Florida psychiatrists when in August of last year, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida (BCBS) terminated the contracts of all psychiatrists, psychologists and mental health professionals in the State of Florida. BCBS simply cancelled the [...]
Doctors’ prescriptions raise suspicions of Medicaid fraud
Star Tribune By JEREMY OLSON February 29, 2012 Minnesota officials are reporting a handful of doctors to the state medical board for potential disciplinary action because of the amount of addictive painkillers and potent psychotropic drugs they have prescribed. In a Feb. 13 letter to U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, the Department of Human Services said it has reported two doctors for excessive prescriptions and was "in the process of reporting others." The letter was an update to Grassley, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee who has been investigating whether doctors are bilking the Medicaid system by writing too [...]
Top Prescribers – Minnesota
Pioneer Press U.S. senator raises questions about prescriptions written under Minnesota's Medicaid program By Christopher Snowbeck March 1, 2012 A prominent U.S. senator is raising concerns about the potential for doctors in Minnesota to abuse the Medicaid health-insurance program by prescribing large numbers of painkillers and other medicines. In a January letter to state officials, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, wrote that he found several "shocking" examples of potential abuse in Minnesota from his review of the prescribing habits of certain physicians. In one case, the top Minnesota prescriber of the painkiller OxyContin wrote more than twice the number of prescriptions [...]
U.S. senator raises questions about prescriptions written under Minnesota’s Medicaid program
Pioneer Press By Christopher Snowbeck March 1, 2012 A prominent U.S. senator is raising concerns about the potential for doctors in Minnesota to abuse the Medicaid health-insurance program by prescribing large numbers of painkillers and other medicines. In a January letter to state officials, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, wrote that he found several "shocking" examples of potential abuse in Minnesota from his review of the prescribing habits of certain physicians. In one case, the top Minnesota prescriber of the painkiller OxyContin wrote more than twice the number of prescriptions for the drug in 2009 as the state's No. [...]
Iowa senator’s letter to Oregon hits hot issue: rate psychiatrists prescribe drugs to children
The Oregonian March 02, 2012 By Nick Budnick Psychiatrist Curt Sturos tends to troubled kids in southern Oregon and considers himself part of a growing awareness that mental health drugs may be overused. So it was a surprise to find himself exhibit A in a recent letter from a powerful U.S. senator demanding to know what Oregon is doing to crack down on doctors who over-prescribe. State Medicaid records show Sturos authorized more of the mental health drug Abilify for the last three years than any other Oregon doctor. A letter to the Oregon Health Authority from Sen. Charles Grassley, [...]
South Carolina Top Prescribers Must Repay $1.9 million
Post and Courier Health providers to repay $1.9 million - Improper billing to Medicaid cited By Renee Dudley March 14, 2012 More than 30 South Carolina health care providers must repay nearly $1.9 million they inappropriately billed to the state Medicaid agency, according to state health officials and documents recently obtained by The Post and Courier. The repayment demand stems, in part, from an investigation of doctors' prescribing habits for painkillers and antipsychotics. Three of the providers must appear before the state Board of Medical Examiners, and their licenses could be revoked, according to documents prepared by the S.C. [...]
Hawaii – State Cuts High Prescribers from Medicaid
Star Advertiser (Honolulu, HI) State cuts doctors from Medicaid Three were pulled from the program because of prescription volumes By Rob Perez Mar 27, 2012 The state terminated three Medicaid physicians who were prescribing relatively high amounts of potent psychiatric and pain drugs, while two other providers are under investigation by federal agencies, according to information provided to a U.S. senator. The actions against the five physicians came to light in a Feb. 23 letter that Dr. Kenneth Fink of the state Department of Human Services sent to U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, who has been focusing on Medicaid abuses [...]