MEDIA

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 [...]

Top Prescribing Child Psychiatrist in Hot Water – Texas

Houston Chronicle Complaint alleges Houston-based doctor improperly gave drugs to child By Lise Olsen and Todd Ackerman March 28, 2012 A Houston-based psychiatrist and the state's leading prescriber of the anti-anxiety drug Xanax is the subject of a complaint to the Texas Medical Board alleging he improperly and simultaneously prescribed four drugs to an 8-year-old, placing the child "at undue risk." The complaint against Dr. G.K. Ravichandran comes as the Texas Health and Human Services Commission has begun releasing to U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley results of its investigations into doctors who prescribe large quantities of pain and psychiatric medications, [...]

TOP PRESCRIBERS – 7 Arizona doctors lose Medicaid contracts

Arizona Republic 7 Arizona doctors lose Medicaid contracts AHCCCS dismissals come amid prescription probe by Ken Alltucker Apr. 10, 2012 06:37 PM The state's Medicaid program said it has terminated the contracts of seven doctors who were top prescribers of powerful pain pills and mental-health prescription drugs. Their dismissals were made public as the result of an ongoing probe by U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, of drug-prescribing patterns in Medicaid programs across the country. Medicaid programs, which provide health care to the nation's poor, reimburse doctors and practitioners. Grassley's probe centers on health-care professionals who prescribe large amounts of pain [...]

TennCare blocks 3 top drug prescribers in fight against fraud, abuse

Tennessean TennCare blocks 3 top drug prescribers in fight against fraud, abuse Written by Duane W. Gang and Brian Haas Apr. 21, 2012 Three of TennCare’s top 10 prescribers of commonly abused mental health and pain drugs have been blocked from filling prescriptions through the state’s health-care program for the poor and uninsured. In a 22-page letter and report to a U.S. senator investigating the over-prescribing of prescription drugs in the federal Medicaid program, TennCare Director Darin Gordon outlined the steps under way to cut down on fraud and abuse, including blocking the three prescribers. “We agree that inappropriate prescribing [...]

A Possible Federal Solution to Psych Drugging Kids

Youth Today Rate at Which Psychiatric Meds Are Prescribed to Foster Youth Alarms GAO Administration could mull regulation of monitoring, prescribing practices December 01, 2011 by John Kelly The Obama Administration told states last week of its intention to find out more about their practices when it came to monitoring the use of psychotropic drugs with children in foster care. Today, the reason for the interest became apparent, and calls for federal regulation of use of the drugs on foster children could soon follow. A Government Accountability Office (GAO) study released this morning recommended that the Department of Health and [...]

Off Label – practice

“Off label” refers to the fraudulent and illegal practice of prescribing drugs for treatments other than those for which they have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. Off-label

STATE OF CONFUSION ON CHILD DRUGGING

Palm Beach Post Shoddy records stall drug probe at Florida Department of Juvenile Justice By Dara Kam and Michael LaForgia November 4, 2011 TALLAHASSEE — Shoddy record-keeping by the Department of Juvenile Justice is hampering the agency\'s own investigation into the dosing of jailed children with powerful antipsychotic drugs, the department\'s head told a top state lawmaker this week. In a letter to state Sen. Ronda Storms, Secretary Wansley Walters wrote that the in-house review was taking a \"frustratingly long time\" largely due to a \"lack of electronic medical records.\" With no centralized database, officials have no easy way of [...]

North Carolina Scrutinizing Psych Drug Use in Children

Are some foster kids over-medicated? NC now looking to scrutinize how Medicaid dispensed to children North Carolina now has a program that will allow it to monitor children on Medicaid who are prescribed antipsychotic and other mood-altering medications. A+Kids was implemented after doctors and those in the mental health field started questioning whether the medications were being over prescribed. Hickory Daily Record By: Sharon McBrayer January 22, 2012 In the grocery store, a child goes through the produce isle picking up items and biting into them. When mom tries to stop him, he takes a bite out of her. Meanwhile, [...]

Dosed in juvie jail: Investigators focus on antipsychotic doses for kids and possible fraud

Palm Beach Post Dosed in juvie jail: Investigators focus on antipsychotic doses for kids and possible fraud By Michael LaForgia On alert for signs of fraud, state Attorney General Pam Bondi\'s office said months ago it was looking into the Medicaid billing habits of doctors who worked in Florida\'s juvenile jails. But the inquiry largely consisted of just one step, according to records and interviews: sending an email to the Florida agency that oversees Medicaid. At issue was whether the government insurer pays pharmacy bills for kids in state custody, a question first raised in May by a Palm Beach [...]

Psychs Avoid Penalties in Suits Against Medical Firms

ProPublica Doctors Avoid Penalties in Suits Against Medical Firms by Tracy Weber and Charles Ornstein Evidence sealed at settlement For concerned outsiders, the whistle-blower suits are often troublingly vague. Many don\'t provide enough specifics about physicians\' roles to assess their veracity. Some offer only worrisome hints of doctors\' misconduct. But the case against Lilly and Florida psychiatrist George Jerusalem, unsealed in 2009, was rich with detailed allegations. While purportedly receiving money and gifts from Lilly from 2001 to 2003, Jerusalem favored its antipsychotic Zyprexa, according to a case filed in federal court in Pennsylvania by a former Lilly sales representative. [...]

Drug makers pad doctors’ income

The News-Press (Fort Myers, Florida) By FRANK GLUCK Pharmaceutical companies have paid doctors in Lee and Collier counties almost $1.5 million for consulting, speaking, research and other work since 2009, according to newly released data by investigative news organization ProPublica. Top payments include more than $100,000 to Fort Myers physician Richard J. Weiss, largely in speaking and educational fees; about $168,000 to Naples anesthesia expert Dr. Joseph Pergolizzi - again, mostly in speaking/consulting fees; and $88,000 to Fort Myers psychiatrist Dr. Fred Schaerf and his clinic, primarily related to medical research. ProPublica, a nonprofit Web-based news outlet, has been collecting [...]

Carlos Delos-Reyes, Psychiatrist, License Revoked, Misconduct, Accepted Kidney From Patient

The Ithaca Journal (New York) Elmira psychiatrist loses license June 17, 2011 By G. Jeffrey Aaron The New York State Health Department has revoked the license of an Elmira psychiatrist who has admitted charges of misconduct, including accepting a kidney from a patient. Dr. Carlos Delos-Reyes received his license to practice medicine in New York in March 1987. His license will be permanently restricted, effective June 21, and he will be prohibited from practicing in New York state. According to a statement of charges issued by the state Board for Professional Medical Conduct, Delos-Reyes provided psychiatric care to patients at [...]

Dosed in juvie jail: Drug firms pay state-hired doctors

Palm Beach Post By Michael LaForgia In Florida\'s juvenile jails, psychiatrists entrusted with diagnosing and prescribing drugs for wayward children have taken huge speaker fees from drug makers - companies that profit handsomely when doctors put kids on antipsychotic pills. The psychiatrists were hired by a state juvenile justice system that has plied kids with heavy doses of the powerful medications, and the physicians have prescribed antipsychotics even before they were approved by federal regulators as safe for children. One in three of the psychiatrists who have contracted with the state Department of Juvenile Justice in the past five years [...]

End juvenile injustices

Palm Beach Post By Rhonda Swan New Florida Department of Juvenile Justice Secretary Wansley Walters is right to examine the department\'s use of antipsychotic medications following a Palm Beach Post investigation showing that children in DJJ care are being plied with heavy doses of the powerful drugs. \"We will look at everything that surrounds this issue,\" Ms. Walters said in an interview. \"We\'re concerned that any child in our care be given the best medical assistance possible, appropriate to his medical needs.\" DJJ\'s inspector general will conduct the investigation. Ms. Walters said one of her first acts was to ensure [...]

Another suit filed against embattled jail psychiatrist

Hernando Today By TONY HOLT She was offended, violated and wasn't going to take it anymore, she said. The former Hernando County jail inmate reported the alleged sexual harassment by her psychiatrist to a female correctional officer. She consoled the shaken inmate. The two women talked. They cried. The officer promised to report it to her supervisors. Less than an hour later, the inmate was led to a dark, isolated cell with no windows. She remained in solitary confinement for another nine days, she said. She only received one visitor – an investigator from Corrections Corporation of America, the company [...]

Florida restricts license of ex-Hernando jail psychiatrist accused of molesting female inmates

St. Petersburg Times By John Woodrow Cox March 28, 2011 BROOKSVILLE — The Florida surgeon general has restricted the license of a former Hernando County jail psychiatrist after authorities say he asked female inmates to expose themselves, give him a lap dance or a kiss and implied he would trade medication for sex. In one instance, authorities said, Dr. James A. Yelton Rossello, 53, pinned a woman to the wall and molested her. The accusations against Yelton stem from his treatment of four female inmates from November 2009 to August 2010. During that time, the state records show, he was [...]

Complaint filed against New Mexico Psychiatrist for “injudicious prescribing”

Albuquerque Journal Psychiatrist in Hot Water Over Drug Prescriptions By Colleen Heild February 08, 2011 A longtime Albuquerque psychiatrist faces disciplinary action for allegedly prescribing excessively high doses of drugs for his patients and writing prescriptions for drugs that were potentially toxic if taken together. Those are among the allegations against Dr. Kenneth Bull in a complaint filed by the state Medical Board, which accused him of "injudicious prescribing" and failing to document the rationale for doing so in patients' medical records. The board filed the complaint last August, then took the rare action of suspending his license until further [...]

TN Won’t Turn Over Names of Top Prescribers To Senate Committee

Nashville Scene by Brantley Hargrove In this week\'s cover story, \"Pharm League,\" we take a look at a few Nashville doctors who are top-paid pharmaceutical industry speakers and consultants, attempting to suss out just what these relationships mean. Apparently, there are five Tennessee doctors who made $200,000 or more over the last year or so in speaking and consulting fees — more than any other state. Not surprisingly, three of them are from Nashville. But the diversity of the doctors and their credentials may surprise you. To be sure, you can\'t paint them with a single brush. So it was [...]

State snubs feds in doctor probe

Rapid City Journal Journal Editorial Board South Dakota is one of 10 states that failed to provide complete information to a U.S. senator who is trying to identify doctors who prescribe excessive amounts of mental health and pain medications. State Medicaid Director Larry Iverson also refused to release that information to the media. Instead of identifying doctors by name, or provider numbers, the state used letter codes that had no consistency from year to year, making it impossible to identify doctors who might be over-prescribing psychotropic or addictive medicines including Oxycontin and Xanax. Without a way to track patterns from [...]

3 local MDs are paid experts, also prescribe the drugs

San Diego Union Tribune Speaker's fees reach five figures, payments that are legal but raise questions about potential conflicts By Christina Jewett • California Watch Three San Diego doctors who prescribe medications at the same time they are paid by drug companies as experts on the products figure into a broader national debate about whether playing both roles poses a conflict. California Watch, a project of the independent, nonprofit Center for Investigative Reporting, compared two sets of data at the center of the debate — one a database of payments by drug companies to doctors nationwide and the other a [...]