Business As Usual

March 31st, 2004 - The former chief financial officer of San Francisco health care giant McKesson Corp. was indicted Tuesday by a federal grand jury for his role in a huge criminal securities fraud that wiped out $9 billion of shareholder value five years ago.

A few of those charged : Jay Gilbertson, Dominick DeRosa, Timothy Heyerdahl, Charles McCall, Jay Lapine, Richard Hawkins, Albert Bergonzi. None in jail of course, some have moved on to the next executive position in another company.

Those who use the shredder the quickest must be acquitted.

FEBRUARY 16, 2006 - McKesson Corporation to Pay United States $3 Million to Settle Fraud Allegations. Today’s civil settlement resolves allegations that the San Francisco-based corporation, between October 1997 and December 2001, knowingly defrauded the Defense Department’s medical treatment facilities more for pharmaceutical products than was allowable under its prime vendor contracts with the government.

Nice "resolution" if you can get it.

Fiscal year 2008 1Q federal contracts to McKesson: $466,932,122. The bulk of this years contracts coming from Department of Veterans Affairs (war is very good for the medical business), and the Bureau of Prisons.

McKesson misconduct. McKesson has been fined 982.5 million in misconduct cases with $4332.4 million in federal contracts awarded in the last 8 years; not included are contracts to McKesson subsidiaries.

Also not included in the stats are cases pending. A class-action lawsuit filed in federal court in Massachusetts against McKesson Corporation alleges McKesson and pharmaceutical data publishing company First DataBank entered into a secret agreement to artificially inflate the average wholesale price (AWP) of hundreds of brand-name drugs. The government uses average wholesale prices as reported by drug companies to set reimbursements from federal health programs. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of healthcare consumers and third-party payors who allegedly overpaid for drugs by billions of dollars.

As usual - expect only the lawyers to profit off lawsuits "filed on behalf of ... consumers."

Bubba, business is gonna love it when the US implements that "free" healthcare.