Lax Policing of Doctor and Pharmacy Conflicts Is Found in Medicare Coverage Decisions
March 6, 2013NY Times By ROBERT PEAR March 5, WASHINGTON — Deciding which drugs will be covered by Medicare can influence huge amounts of spending, but government officials do little to police conflict of interest among doctors and pharmacists who make those decisions, federal investigators said Monday. In a new report, Daniel R. Levinson, the inspector general at the Department of Health and Human Services, said the federal Medicare agency had not clearly defined “conflict of interest” and did not enforce standards meant to prevent such conflicts from influencing coverage decisions by the panels, known as pharmacy and therapeutics committees. “The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services does not monitor conflicts of interest on pharmacy and therapeutics committees,” Mr. Levinson said. Read more