USA files suit against Omnicare for accepting kickbacks from Abbott

The United States has filed a civil False Claims Act complaint against Omnicare (NYSE: OCR) alleging that it solicited and received millions of dollars in kickbacks from drugmaker Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT), the Justice Department announced yesterday.

Omnicare is the nation’s largest provider of pharmaceuticals and pharmacy consulting services to nursing homes. Federal regulations designed to protect nursing home residents from unnecessary drugs require nursing homes to retain consulting pharmacists such as those provided by Omnicare to ensure that residents’ drug prescriptions are appropriate.

In its complaint, the USA alleges that Omnicare solicited and received kickbacks from Abbott in exchange for purchasing and recommending the prescription drug Depakote (divalproex) for controlling behavioral disturbances exhibited by dementia patients residing in nursing homes serviced by Omnicare. According to the complaint, Omnicare’s pharmacists reviewed nursing home patients’ charts at least monthly and made recommendations to physicians on what drugs should be prescribed for those patients. The government alleges that Omnicare touted its influence over physicians in nursing homes in order to secure kickbacks from pharmaceutical companies such as Abbott.