Maria Cantwell: “it was reported this week that U.S. Attorney Patrick Meehan plans to join a pair of lawsuits filed by three former Medco…”

“it was reported this week that U.S. Attorney Patrick Meehan plans to join a pair of lawsuits filed by three former Medco Health employees. The employees--two pharmacists and a doctor--allege that Medco provided misleading information to the Government related to a contract to provide drug coverage for Federal employees. The lawsuits accuse Medco of switching patients to more expensive drugs and fabricating records to make it look as if the prescription changes were made by doctors and not by Medco. These are serious allegations resulting from an investigation that began in 1999. This is the first such action taken by a U.S. attorney against a PBM and is a strong signal that all is not right with this industry. U.S. Attorney Patrick Meehan told the Newark Star Ledger: The kind of conduct alleged in the complaints threatens not only the integrity of the system as a whole, but also the well being of the very patients it is designed to benefit. These allegations suggest that, somewhere along the line, the focus became the profit instead of the patient.”