U.S. investigating CVS Caremark prescription practices: LA Times

The U.S. government is investigating allegations that CVS Caremark Corp refilled prescriptions and submitted insurance claims to Medicare without getting approval from patients, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The newspaper, quoting an official with knowledge of the matter, said an investigation had been launched by the Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which is in charge of looking into potential Medicare fraud. http://link.reuters.com/wyp33t

Officials at the agency and CVS Caremark, the second-biggest U.S. drug store chain, could not be reached for comment outside regular U.S. business hours.

Medicare is the U.S. health program for the elderly and disabled.

CVS Caremark agreed to pay $5 million in January to settle charges of inaccurate pricing of some drugs for the elderly and the disabled, ending a wide-ranging, multi-year probe into its business practices.

(Reporting By Neha Alawadhi in Bangalore; Editing by Ted Kerr)