It Figures

$41 Million

A $41 million settlement has been reached between pharmacy benefits management firm Caremark Rx LLC and 29 states over charges that the company and two of its subsidiaries, Caremark LLC and CaremarkPCS LLC (formerly AdvancePCS), engaged in deceptive business practices that violated state consumer protection laws. As part of the settlement, Caremark denied any wrongdoing but agreed to significantly change its business practices. Among other things, the states allege that Caremark encouraged doctors to switch patients’ prescriptions and represented that patients or their health insurance plans would save money, which wasn’t always the case. The settlement generally prohibits Caremark from soliciting drug switches when the net cost of the proposed drug exceeds that of the originally prescribed drug; the cost to the patient will be greater, the originally prescribed drug has a generic equivalent and the proposed drug doesn’t, the originally prescribed drug’s patent is expected to expire within six months, or the patient was switched from a similar drug within the last two years. The following states participated in the settlement: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia and Washington.

35

New Orleans officials say design work is about to begin on 35 post-Katrina rebuilding projects in the city, including a park, community clinics and fire stations. City recovery director Ed Blakely said the projects will cost an estimated $100 million total, with most of that expected to be reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. According to the Associated Press, the list represents a new bundling-approach to projects, rather than one in which projects are handled individually. Officials plan to announce another 30 projects in a couple weeks, Blakely said. Since Hurricane Katrina, City Hall has started 46 recovery projects, he said.

158,000

Forth Worth, Texas, school officials say they found beef recalled from a California slaughterhouse in the district’s freezers and will destroy it. The Associated Press reported that after checking the safety of 158,000 pounds of beef, the school district discovered that some it needed to be destroyed. The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently recalled 143 million pounds of beef from a California slaughterhouse because of evidence that the plant violated health regulations. More than one-third of the meat was sent to school lunch programs across the nation. Fort Worth schools won’t include beef on the lunch menu until after spring break in late March, a district spokesperson said.