The Community Oncology Alliance has been slinging mud at 340B hospitals for months. Now, a Wall Street Journal investigation has found that a Florida oncology practice with close ties to COA racks up big dollars billing Medicare for the anemia drug Procrit, which “can speed tumor growth and hasten death in cancer patients.”
In fact, one-sixth of the $128 million that Medicare paid in 2012 for Procrit went to Fort Myers-based Florida Cancer Specialists, WSJ reports. You might recall FCS from the recent AIR 340B “summit.” Michael Diaz, M.D., a member of the practice, sits on both the FCS and COA executive boards. Dr. Diaz spoke at the summit about “travesties” by 340B hospitals and how they cause private cancer physicians to suffer. It turns out that 28 of FCS’s doctors “were among the top 100 U.S. oncologists by 2012 Medicare payments for all services,” WSJ’s investigation found. In fact, the newspaper says 22 were paid over $3 million each by the government!
While it appears nothing was illegal about FCS doctors’ prescribing decisions, the WSJ investigation shows how private cancer clinics buy and bill certain medications to their advantage. For example, WSJ’s analysis of Medicare billing records found that FCS doctors prescribed Procrit at higher-than-average rates and billed Medicare for a whopping $20 million worth of the drug in 2012, despite FDA warnings to doctors as far back as 2002 to stop prescribing the drug liberally. Procrit is marketed by AIR 340B member Janssen, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson.
Private oncologists make much of their money administering high-priced drugs to patients. Because they make more money prescribing expensive meds, the WSJ piece calls into question whether medical need – or good old capitalism – is driving some private cancer doctors’ decisions. Funny, but this is the same argument COA has leveled at safety-net hospitals.
We will leave the hypocrisy aside and expect there are good medical reasons why Florida Cancer Specialists prescribes meds the way it does. After all, safety-net hospitals are in the same business of helping sick people get better. Our patients just happen to be a lot less able to pay for their care.