In Brief: Northwestern Settles Fraud Charge; Walgreens Rebrands Retail Clinics
Northwestern Settles Cancer Research Fraud Allegations
Northwestern University has agreed to pay the U.S. government $2.93 million to settle claims that it engaged in cancer research fraud.
The alleged fraud centers around Northwestern's Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Center for Cancer in Chicago. A former staff researcher, Charles L. Bennett, M.D., was permitted to submit falsified claims to the National Institutes for Health.
The allegations came out of a qui tam lawsuit unsealed this week in federal court. It was originally filed by Melissa Theis, a former Lurie Cancer Center employee, and joined by the U.S. government after investigations by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of the Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It claimed that Bennett used grant money for personal expenses for himself, and “consulting fees” for friends.
“Allowing researchers to use federal grant money to pay for personal travel, hotels, and meals, and to hire unqualified friends and relatives as ‘consultants’ violates the public trust and federal law,” said Gary S. Shapiro, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. “This settlement, combined with the willingness of insiders to report fraud, should help deter such misconduct, but when it doesn’t, federal grant recipients who allow the system to be manipulated should know that we will aggressively pursue all available legal remedies.”
Bennett is no longer associated with the Lurie Cancer Center, or Northwestern's school of medicine, where he was a faculty member. Records indicate he now resides in South Carolina, but he is not licensed to practice medicine in that state.
Northwestern did not admit any wrongdoing as part of the settlement. Theis will receive just under $500,000 of the settlement.
Walgreens Rebrands Retail Clinics
Walgreens, the Illinois-based pharmacy retailing giant, has embarked on a rebranding campaign for its retail clinics.
Take Care, the former brand name for the clinics, has been renamed “Healthcare Clinic.” The name change is expected to be effective at all 370 of its retail clinics by the end of August.
Officials said the rebranding was intended to more effectively align Walgreens retail clinics with its other medical providers, which include pharmacists, home healthcare specialists and affiliations with other providers.
Retail clinics provide basic primary and preventative care at flat prices, and are usually staffed by a nurse practitioner. Walgreens was among the first pharmacy chains to introduce the concept, when it launched Take Care in 2004. Retail clinics at pharmacies have since grown in fits and starts, although their presence has become stronger in recent years.
“The new Healthcare Clinic allows us to leverage the strength of the Walgreens brand to help attract and introduce new patients to our retail clinic services, while creating a more seamless health care experience serving a wide variety of patient needs,” said Jeffrey Kang, M.D., a Walgreens senior vice president overseeing health and wellness services. “The healthcare landscape is evolving, and with a diverse and expansive collection of assets, Walgreens is uniquely positioned to play an integral role in addressing the needs of patients, payers and providers by helping to lower costs to the system while helping more people get, stay and live well.”
