More than 100 pharmacists in the US have been arrested following the uncovering of a nationwide drug diversion operation. The arrests are believed to be the most extensive crackdown on prescription drug fraud in the US.
The multi million dollar fraud involved Medicaid and Medicare patients obtaining prescriptions for unneeded drugs from doctors, having the prescriptions filled by pharmacists for free, and then selling the drugs for a fraction of their value to middle men, who then sold them at discount rates to pharmacists, who in turn resold them to the public at full price.
“We are advising patients to look at their medicine to make sure it is the one they are supposed to be taking, and once they have verified that it’s the right drug, to keep taking it according to instructions,” said a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) spokesman.