The HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) has issued two recent reports focusing on inappropriate prescribers practices involving drugs paid under the Medicare Part D program. In one report, the OIG concluded that the Medicare Part D program inappropriately paid for drugs (including controlled substances) ordered by individuals who did not have the authority to prescribe, such as massage therapists, athletic trainers, home contractors, interpreters, transportation companies, counselors, social workers, and chiropractors in 2009. In a related report, ” Prescribers with Questionable Patterns in Medicare Part D,” the OIG identified more than 736 general-care physicians who demonstrated what the OIG considers to be questionable prescribing patterns, such as prescribing extremely high numbers of prescriptions per beneficiary, using numerous pharmacies, prescribing a high percentage of Schedule II and Schedule III drugs, and prescribing a high percentage of brand-name prescriptions. Medicare paid $352 million for the Part D drugs ordered by these “extreme outlier” physicians. The OIG notes that while “some of this prescribing may be appropriate, such questionable patterns warrant further scrutiny.” To address issues identified in the reports, the OIG recommends that CMS increase oversight of the Part D program by: requiring Part D plan sponsors to verify that prescribers have the authority to prescribe drugs; providing sponsors with additional guidance on monitoring prescribing patterns; increasing the Medicare Drug Integrity Contractor’s monitoring of prescribers; providing education and training for prescribers; ensuring that Medicare does not pay for prescriptions from individuals without prescribing authority; and following up on the prescribers identified in the reports. CMS concurred with the recommendations. The first report, “Medicare Inappropriately Paid for Drugs Ordered by Individuals without Prescribing Authority,” is available here. To highlight its concerns in this area, the OIG has created a new “Spotlight” web page focusing on OIG enforcement efforts and investigations related to prescription drug diversion.