06/25/2014    Joseph Borreggine, DPM

Legality of Physician-Owned Pharmacies

Based on certain state laws and federal anti-Stark
laws a physician cannot have ownership in a
pharmacy. However, certain specialty pharmacies
currently have been aggressively soliciting
podiatrists and other physician groups/specialties
nationally to invest indirectly in these
pharmacies.

In certain proposals, they state that could
provide incentive dollars to their physicians who
provide initial pain evaluation surveys to their
patients who receive specially formulated pain
relieving prescriptions.

They also state that further incentive dollars
maybe paid to the physician if the patient returns
filled follow-up surveys.

There also opportunity for the physician to
participate in "investing" in the pharmacy's
billing service and receive a potentially
promising lucrative return monthly on investment
dollars based on the amount of business revenue
the billing service receives.

I recently have had a healthcare attorney review a
particular contract from one of these pharmacy
investment proposals and they strongly urged me
not participate in this or any program like this
due to the possible potential legal breaches in my
state's law along with other potential medical
liability issues that could occur.

I also recommend that my colleagues fully research
their particular state laws before venturing into
investment opportunities such as this and fully
understand the risks involved like any investment.

Please consider having a healthcare provide a
legal opinion to you before signing any document
that involves investing in a pharmacy directly or
indirectly.

I am not in any way discouraging anyone from
participating in programs such as this, but let
the buyer beware.

Joseph Borreggine, DPM, Charleston, IL,
footfixr@consolidated.net

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