CVS Caremark under investigation for refilling prescriptions without patient approval

Medicare is looking into reports that CVS Caremark Corp. the second largest drugstore chain in the nation is refilling prescriptions and submitting them without patients’ approval. The Office of Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is examining possible Medicare fraud. Investigators are examining a random sampling of millions of claims CVS submitted on behalf of customers to make sure that refunds were made to Medicare for drugs that patients hadn’t requested and didn’t pick up. Last year, CVS paid $17.5 million to resolve allegations that the company falsified claims for prescription drugs for the Medicaid program in California and nine other states.