Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement

Charging Medicare for drug promos is a big no-no.

There are strings attached to those free prescription samples - and getting tangled up could cost physicians.

A Laconia, NH urologist has agreed to pay $100,000 - more than three times the amount he allegedly stole - to settle accusations that Medicare overpaid claims for the cancer medication Lupron.

According to U.S. Attorney Tom Colantuono, from 1993 to 1998 Medicare paid Dr. Henry Lewis $30,000 for administering Lupron dosages that were taken from free samples, and not purchased from the manufacturer as stated by Lewis. "The monetary amount imposed in this case should serve as a clear warning that providers must be aware of the appropriate and necessary actions they must take to prevent false claims and fraud under the Civil False Claims Act," Colantuono said.

Lesson Learned: Prosecutors could come down hard on physicians caught abusing access to prescription drug samples.