Atlanta-based K&F Consulting Helps Feds Win $155 Million
False Claims Judgment Against N. J. Pharmaceutical Company

            ATLANTA, Ga. – Dec. 5, 2006 – The nation's second largest pharmacy benefit management company, Medco Health Solutions of Parsippany, N.J., recently agreed to pay the United States $155 million plus interest to settle allegations that the company submitted false claims to the government, solicited and accepted kickbacks from pharmaceutical manufacturers to favor their drugs, and paid kickbacks to health plans to obtain business.            

Atlanta-based K&F Consulting, Inc., a forensic auditing and e-discovery company, was instrumental in helping the U.S. Justice Department obtain the judgment against the company that manages the prescription drug benefits for more than 60 million Americans, including millions of Medicare beneficiaries.           

"Computer data was important in the process to reach such a large settlement, which we’ve been told is one of the 10 largest healthcare recoveries in history," said Gregory L. Fordham, a founding principal with K&F.          

"While the government already had good evidence of the alleged wrongdoing, supporting such a large settlement required identifying thousands of false claims."           

K&F forensic computer experts audited more than one billion rows of data involving about 100 million prescription fills and refills at a unit cost of less than a penny per prescription.          

"It’s a job that would be impossible to do manually," Fordham said. "We found a lot of information in a in a very short period of time that supported the government’s case and surprised a lot of people with how quickly we were able to do the work," he added.  

"Millions of federal employees and Medicare beneficiaries rely on pharmacy benefit managers for their prescription drugs," said Peter D. Keisler, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Civil Division.           

"Hidden financial agreements with drug manufacturers and health plans can influence which drugs patients receive, the price we all pay for drugs, and whether pharmacists serve patients with their undivided professional judgment," Keisler said.          

K&F Consulting services a nationwide clientele. The firm provides a variety of e-discovery and computer forensic services including database forensics, software forensics as well as the more well known forms of computer forensics such as hard drive and media forensics. For more information about the firm visit www.knfcon.com.

The U.S. Department of Justice news release on this case is available at www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2006/October/06_civ_722.html