A congressional lawmaker is stepping up pressure on Valeant Pharmaceuticals. Elijah Cummings, a Maryland Democrat, wrote the drug maker to ask that four employees travel to Washington, D.C., for transcribed interviews about their dealings with Philidor Rx Services, a mail-order pharmacy at the heart of an ongoing scandal.
Cummings, who is already investigating Valeant over its pricing practices, wants to learn more about reports that the drug maker hid its relationship with the pharmacy in order to inappropriately boost prescriptions and insurance reimbursements.
Valeant last year purchased an option for $100 million to acquire Philidor, but did not disclose this until after reports appeared last month. Some stories described how Philidor allegedly used surreptitious means to acquire pharmacy licenses in California, where its own license was denied, or changed codes on prescriptions to ensure they were filled with Valeant drugs instead of cheaper generics.
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