Jefferson City, MO (KSDK - The state's Medicaid program will receive more than $289,000 to settle allegations that a St. Louis-based pharmaceutical company lied to customers by saying two drugs were approved for coverage under state and federal health care programs.
Under the agreement, KV Pharmaceutical Company, parent company of now-defunct Ethex Corporation, will pay approximately $17 million to the federal government and participating states to compensate for Ethex's conduct.
According to the suit, Ethex misrepresented the regulatory status of Nitroglycerin Extended Release Capsules (Nitroglycerin ER and Hyoscyamine Sulfate Extended Release Capsules (Hyoscyamine ER .
Despite not being covered by federal and state health care programs, the two drugs do not pose a risk to patients. At present, neither drug is on the market.
Koster said citizens should report suspected Medicaid provider fraud or abuse and neglect to his Medicaid Fraud Hotline toll free at 800-286-3932, e-mail the complaint to
attorney.general@ago.mo.gov or complete a complaint form at the
Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Website.
From
GoldCore
- ECB’s Nowotny says no need for ECB base rate to move below 1% at the moment.
- S&P’s Kraemer has said the outlook on the Eurozone remains negative.
- ECB temporarily suspends use of Greek debt as collateral.
Market Re-Cap
Stocks advanced as market participants looked forward to tomorrow’s 3yr LTRO by the ECB where the street expects EU banks to borrow around EUR 400-500bln. All ten sectors traded in positive territory for much of the session, however less than impressive demand for the latest Italian government paper saw equity indices lose some of the upside traction. Of note, the ECB allotted EUR 29.469bln in 7-day operation, as well as EUR 134bln for 1-day in bridge to 3yr loans. In other new, although Portugal's finance minister announced the country has passed its 3rd bailout review by the EU/IMF, this did not stop S&P's Kraemer saying that if there is a probability of default, it is higher in Portugal than in any other Euro-Zone country.
US Headlines
Going forward, the latter half of the session sees the release of the latest Durable Goods report, S&P Case-Shiller housing data, as well as the Consumer Confidence report for the month of February.
Asian Headlines
Japanese Retail Sales rose 1.9% in January from a year earlier, the second straight monthly increase. The figures show that the growth was driven by automobile sales, which jumped 24.3% from a year earlier. (Sources
Chinese economic growth is likely to stop slowing in the second half as export growth stabilizes with a global economic recovery, according to a senior researcher at the Development Research Center of the State Council. (Shanghai Securities
EU and UK Headlines
S&P downgraded Greece to Selective Default (SD from ‘CC’. S&P said that the downgrade followed the Greek government's retroactive insertion of collective action clauses (CACs . However, if the debt exchange is completed as expected, S&P will raise Greece’s credit rating to ‘CCC’. (RTRS
-S&P have said they believe Greece would face imminent outright payment default if an insufficient number of bondholders accept the exchange offer.
The EFSF outlook was changed to negative from developing by S&P; 'AA+' ratings affirmed. (RTRS S&P concluded that credit enhancements sufficient to offset what they view as the reduced creditworthiness of EFSF guarantors are not likely to be forthcoming. The negative outlook on the long-term rating also mirrors the negative outlooks of France and Austria.
The ISDA is to make a decision on Greece CDS triggers by 1700 GMT, Wednesday February 29. (FT Alphaville-More The ISDA announced that a question relating to the Hellenic Republic has been submitted to the EMEA Determinations Committee. The ISDA will decide whether to accept the question for deliberation or reject it.
The ECB have temporarily suspended the use of Greek debt as collateral, reflecting the Greek debt ratings in the light of the PSI agreements. (Sources
Standard & Poor’s Managing Director Kraemer has commented that the outlook on the Eurozone remains negative, adding that the ECB’s LTRO is not a substitute for reforms, but it does help in the immediate term. (Sources
The ECB’s Nowotny has said there is no need for ECB’s key interest rate to move below 1% at the moment, adding that the ECB is concerned about the long-term effects of loans. (Sources
German regional February CPI figures are due for release today, with Hesse, Brandenburg, Bavaria and Saxony reporting yearly CPI higher than the previous readings, with the German preliminary national reading expected at 1300GMT. (Sources
EQUITIES
European markets are trading in positive territory ahead of the North American open with some renewed risk appetite pre-empting tomorrow’s ECB 3-year LTRO.
In individual equity news, Peugeot continue to attract attention following reports that they may sell a 7% stake to General Motors, however a Peugeot spokesman has declined to comment. Company shares currently trade up 6.8%. (Sources
Barclays have been blocked from implementing two ‘highly’ abusive tax schemes that could have cost the UK treasury GBP 500mln despite the banks new code of practice in which it pledged not to engage in tax avoidance. Although the Barclays CEO has said the change in tax law will have no material impact, company shares currently trade down 1%. (FT-More
Bayer reported a below expected net for Q4 before the European market open, however reported a beat on sales for the same period. The company foresee a slight increase in underlying earnings in 2012 and stable pharmaceuticals sales for the year. Company shares are down 1%. (Sources
Lower performing stocks today include Whitbread, whose Premier Inn unit has reported slowing sales growth in a tough market for UK hotels. Company shares currently trade down 2.3%. (Sources
Top performing sectors in the BE500: Technology (+0.82% , Consumer Goods (+0.57% , Utilities (+0.51%
Worst performing sectors in the BE500: Health Care (+0.04% , Oil & Gas (+0.04% , Industrials (+0.18%
FX
EUR/USD is trading in positive territory ahead of the North American open amid market talk of Russian names buying the pair, however this remains unconfirmed.
EUR/SEK has seen some volatility earlier in the session following a spike lower after the release of better than expected retail sales and higher than expected PPI data from Sweden.
Japanese Finance Minister Azumi has reiterated his stance to the G20 that Japan will take decisive steps as needed on the JPY. (Sources
COMMODITIES
WTI crude is trading without direction following the European open with Brent futures down around USD 1.00 on the day heading back towards USD 123.00. Focus remains on the debt situation in Greece and participants await the release of API data due after the NYMEX pit close.
Oil & Gas News:
• TransCanada have said they will build the Southern leg of its USD 7bln Keystone XL pipeline first, removing a pinch-point that has led to deep price discounts for US and Canadian crude and forced refiners to rely more heavily on imports.
• Oil exploration activity in the North Sea fell by half last year to only 15 wells, the lowest level since the mid-1960s, according to the trade body Oil & Gas UK. Meanwhile, annual production has declined 18%, three times the average fall registered in recent years. The body have said up to 3bln BOE could be unlocked if the UK government announces the right incentives at next month’s budget.
• Qatar have agreed to supply 3.5mln MT per year of liquefied natural gas to Pakistan, according to a Special Assistant to the Pakistani Prime Minister.
Geopolitical News:
• India is considering taking a sovereign guarantee for Indian ships taking Iranian crude from July this year, according to India’s Shipping Secretary.
• Iran’s Foreign Minister Salehi has said there are two ways to deal with Iran’s ‘peaceful nuclear programme’ – either engagement or confrontation. The minister further commented that Iran does not seek confrontation, adding that he is confident in the peaceful nature of the country’s nuclear programme.
By Ben Hirschler
LONDON, Feb 28 (Reuters - How to measure medical corruption? Tuan Anh Nguyen, a researcher at Hanoi University of Pharmacy, believes informal payments to doctors are "a dominant factor" in high prices of the older off-patent drugs that make up the lion's share of prescriptions in many emerging markets.
After interviewing doctors, pharmaceutical companies, government officials and pharmacists in both the private and state hospital sectors, he concluded in a study published last year that around 40 percent of the drugs' price in Vietnam is typically spent on offering financial inducements to doctors.
"When I talk to colleagues in some other Asian countries they say the situation is the same," he told Reuters.
His investigation broke down the different legal and illegal components that contribute to the cost of drugs in Vietnam, and found 40 to 60 percent of the final price could be spent to induce prescribers to use particular medicines, and to persuade procurement officers inside hospitals to buy them. The biggest share went to doctors.
Nguyen said the problem was worse with generic medicines sold by Asian companies, although his study did not name any firms. In Vietnam the price of these is sometimes even higher than that of the original branded product, in order to recoup payments made to doctors by drug companies trading these medicines.
But Western drug firms are not immune: pharmaceutical company representatives who spoke to Nguyen reported that doctors typically expect a commission of about 15 percent from European drug makers; the figure they look for from Asian producers is nearer 40 percent.
The study, which was presented at the International Conference for Improving Medicines in Antalya, Turkey, last October, found multinational companies tend to prohibit bribes, officially at least, although pressure to achieve sales targets often means representatives ignore this and give money to prescribers.
At other times, multinationals pay for one-off benefits like luxury holidays that would be prohibited under anti-kickback rules adopted by the drug industry in the United States.
Doctors surveyed said they took the cash and non-cash offers to make up for low salaries, and it was common for commissions from the pharmaceutical industry to become the main source of income for some physicians, leaving those reputable doctors who are determined to stay "clean" out in the cold.
It's a situation one foreign drug salesman says has turned the system upside down: "Now, the worse the doctors, the more money they have. It's ridiculous."
One of the new Blue and Blue Shield stores in Florida. Photo courtesy of Kaiser Health News.
When Ronda Austin's employer stopped offering health coverage last spring, she bought an individual policy from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida. A month later she was given a diagnosis of multiple myeloma and began chemotherapy at her oncologist's office near her home in Tampa.
But after several sessions, the physician's office said that her plan covered chemotherapy only if it was provided in a hospital and told her she owed the practice $15,000. Austin called her plan's member-services number but didn't get anywhere.
So she stopped in at a new kind of insurance facility - her local BCBS of Florida retail store. There, a customer service rep sat down with her and called up her plan information online. She referred Austin to nearby Moffitt Cancer Center for subsequent chemotherapy treatments and explained how to address the problem with the oncologist's billing department, which had misread her policy. The problem was quickly resolved.
"It's a great feeling to know the insurance company is standing behind you," says Austin.
Health insurers increasingly want to make shopping for a new health plan as easy and convenient as dropping into a local retailer to buy a TV. In recent years, a number of them have opened stores where consumers can stop by to talk with a customer service representative about buying a plan or resolve questions about their current coverage. Some stores also sponsor health fairs or community seminars on nutrition and exercise. A few have primary-care doctors on-site.
"The stores are big, bold and easy to see," says Marc Pierce, president of Stonegate Advisors, a research and strategy company in Chicago that has helped several insurers evaluate retailing. "For insurers, the impetus is to provide a tangible touchpoint so they can provide more value for their customers." The trend should continue, he says, unless the U.S. Supreme Court strikes down the 2010 health-care law.
The number of individual health insurance customers is expected to grow significantly in coming years. Employer-sponsored health coverage is eroding, and in 2014 the law will require nearly everyone to have insurance, adding millions to the ranks of the insured.
The stores are "a reaction to the shift from wholesale to retail in insurance sales," says Paul Ginsburg, president of the Center for Studying Health System Change. "In wholesale sales, employers were the buyers. Now insurers are recognizing that retail will be more important."
Bricks and Mortar
Insurers Highmark in Pennsylvania and BCBS of Florida have the largest retail presence to date, with several stores throughout those states. In New York, UnitedHealthcare recently opened a 16,000-square-foot facility in the Flushing section of Queens; it operates a number of smaller storefronts as well.
As insurers see it, bricks-and-mortar stores are one more way, along with online and telephone support, to reach out to consumers.
"This is a third service option for people that like high-touch service," says Craig Thomas, senior vice president for consumer and government markets at BCBS of Florida.
Insurers also hope that their visible presence in communities may generate some positive buzz. "We don't really drive a whole ton of word-of-mouth on the positive side," says Matt Fidler, vice president of consumerism and retail marketing at Highmark, a BCBS plan.
BCBS of Florida and UnitedHealthcare both emphasize providing comprehensive services. At the Queens store, for example, visitors, many of them Asian-American Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, can get their claims questions answered in their native languages and get help signing up for social services programs such as food stamps and a pharmaceutical assistance program for seniors.
"We want to afford people a 360-[degree] experience, and give people access to all the information they need to take care of their health care," says Yasmine Winkler, UnitedHealthcare's chief product and marketing officer. Offering a smorgasbord of services also keeps people coming back, creating consumer "stickiness," she says.
Strip-Mall Service
In Pennsylvania, Highmark stores focus on sales. Ninety percent of the traffic at its eight stores is sales-related, says Fidler.
After being laid off from her job, Heather Manning bought insurance at the Highmark store at a strip mall in Easton shortly before her second child was due.
Although she wasn't able to get coverage for herself until after she had the baby -- her pregnancy was a preexisting condition, which individual insurance policies typically don't cover -- she bought coverage for her 6-year-old son. Once the baby was born in January, she bought a separate policy for the two of them. She pays $400 a month for all three of them.
The experience was very positive, she says. Before signing on with Highmark, she had gotten online quotes from several other insurers, which led to a barrage of sales calls from agents.
Highmark customer service reps, however, don't get sales commissions. "It sets the tone to have it be educational," says Fidler. "It differentiates us [from brokers] from the get-go."
Although there are many upsides to the new insurance stores, Pierce cautions that they could backfire. Consumers already think that health plans make too much money, he says. "Here's the potential for consumers to say, 'Why are you building this big store? Why don't you just reduce my premiums by 20 percent?'"
Kaiser Health News is an editorially independent program of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan health policy research and communication organization not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.
Bribes paid to foreign doctors and other state employees are shaping up as the next major legal liability threat for the global drug industry
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Wipro & Infosys are walk able, all Volvo and other buses starts from these places to almost all locations of City. This makes it very communicable and convenient to live.
Under construction Shopping Malls within 1 kms range:
1 Ashford: Hiranandani Shopping & Office Complex in 10 Acres
2 Neomall: First of its kind, Open Mall in 18 Acres: Hypermarket, Lifestyle, 5 screen Multiplex, Family Entertainment Center, 42 Lane Bowling Alley, Electronic Mega Stores, All leading Retails Brand Outlets.
3 Moreover, all existing malls, Forum, Total, and Lifestyle are all only 15 to 20 mins distant.
Star Hotels in 1 km range: Crown Plaza, Lemon Tree, Svenska, Radha Regent, Lords Plaza.
Nearest Schools: Treamis World School, Samhita Academy, Ebenezer International School, Brookfield, Christ Academy, St. Xaviers.
Nearby Hospitals: Ramakrishna, Narayana Hrudayalaya, Sparsh, Live 100.
Amenities: - 5 floors Club house, Swimming pool, Golf putting range, Mini Theatre, Coffee Shop, Bowling alley, wooden floored squash court. Amphi theatre, Yoga & Aerobics room, Multi Gym, Parlor for Gents & Ladies, Carom, Cards, Chess, Table tennis, Tennis court, Basketball, Throw ball, Skating Arena, Snooker room, Cr?che/Kid's Play Area. Senior citizens park, Throw ball, Badminton, Indoor games & Board games, Barbeque area, Party Hall Jogging track, Maze garden Departmental stores, Pharmacy, Clinic, Travel desk Launderettes, Water bodies.
Naveen: 8867770824
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