Medco Health Solutions has been upbraided by the federal judge overseeing the company's legal battle with the U.S. Justice Department, which has accused Medco of defrauding the government employees pharmacy benefits program.
U.S. District Court Judge Clarence Newcomer said Medco had been "dilatory" in producing documents and said that any further foot-dragging could result in sanctions.
Medo, with about 60 million members, is the largest mail-order pharmacy in the country. For some employers, it provides the cards that patients present to fill prescriptions at their local drugstores.
The Justice Department sued Medco in September 2003, alleging that the company defrauded the government employees' pharmacy-benefits program by inappropriately canceling prescriptions, claiming it had called physicians to warn them of potential bad-drug interactions when it hadn't, changing prescriptions without a doctor's consent and shorting pill bottles.
If found guilty, Medco would face a fine of up to $11,000 for each of the millions of prescriptions it filled for government employees.
