Adventist Health System will pay more than $2 million dollars to settle allegations it used leftover chemotherapy drugs.
The Justice Department says Florida Hospital’s parent company gave single-dose chemotherapy drugs to multiple patients. It happened at Central Florida hospitals from 2007 to 2011.
“These actions put patients at needless risk in an attempt to boost profits at taxpayer expense,” said Shimon R. Richmond, Special Agent in Charge for the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in a statement. “This settlement demonstrates that such practices have consequences.”
Florida Hospital said in a statement none of the patients had adverse effects. The hospital says the allegations were overbroad and incorrect, but resolved them to focus on patient care.
“After learning of the issue, we brought in two national patient safety experts to perform an exhaustive audit, reported this incident to appropriate health care agencies, and launched a broader review to ensure there were no other issues,” Florida Hospital said in a statement. “We immediately implemented new procedures and have rectified billing issues by refunding all monies to the government. We stopped using hand-written physician orders, and implemented new supervisory protocols, training and electronic dosing.”
A whistleblower who filed the complaint will get a cut of the settlement. You can download the court documents here.
Reporter Abe Aboraya is a reporter with WMFE in Orlando. WMFE is a partner with Health News Florida, which receives support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
