newly traded public company. The purchase moved
Medco into specialty medicines and higher-end bio-
tech drug products. In a $120 million deal, Medco
acquired Europa Apotheek Venlo B.V., a Netherlands-
based drugstore chain that is the second largest in
Germany, the company’s first overseas foray. Medco
also added PolyMedica Corp. and its Liberty Medi-
cal Supply Inc. subsidiary, moving it into therapeutic
resources with a particular focus on diabetes. Adding
Association. Moriarty had previously been focused on
Sarbanes-Oxley duties, but after the initial uptick when
the legislation took effect, the regulations now run “on
their own” and are no longer “a grabber of my time.”
MISCELLANEOUS
Medco maintains automated mail-service facilities
in Las Vegas and Willingboro, N.J., which together
process and deliver 1 million prescriptions per week.
Medico does what it can to influence public policies
affecting costs and patient outcomes.
ROUTE TO PRESENT POSITION
Moriarty graduated in 1985 from Lafayette College in Easton, Pa. He received his juris doctorate
in 1989 from the University of Virginia School of
Law and joined Wall Street firm Mudge Rose Guthrie Alexander & Ferdon. He then plied his trade
with a small New Jersey litigation firm. Joining
Merck & Co. Inc. in 1993, he focused primarily
on transactional and legal marketing work. At the
time, Medco was a Merck subsidiary, and Moriarty
went along when the company was spun off. He
was appointed head of the pharmaceutical strategies group and became Medco’s general counsel
one year ago.
UnitedHealth Group Inc. to its client base was another
highlight.
According to Moriarty, one-third of the hospitalizations
in Sweden result from dangerous drug interactions.
Medco has attempted to buck this trend through a
recent alliance with the Swedish government to build a
drug-use review system. Ensuring safer pharmaceutical
interactions is the program’s goal.
REGULATORY RESPONSIBILITIES
Medco’s activities are monitored by the U.S. Depart-
ment of Health and Human Services, the U.S. attorney
general and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid.
Various state pharmaceutical boards keep a watch-
ful eye. Additionally, Medco adheres to the code of
ethics promulgated by the American Pharmacists
A third facility, in Indiana, is about to open, and “well
over a million” orders will originate weekly from there,
Moriarty said. The legal department handles a range
of patents related to the mail-order service. Several
in-house attorneys handle patent counseling and
defense and work with the company’s business and
creative groups.
PERSONAL
Elizabeth, N.J., is Moriarty’s hometown. He and
his wife, Diane, have three children: sons Connor
and Matthew; and daughter Leigh. Playing tennis
and golf and enjoying basketball with his brood
are Moriarty hobbies. He and his team volunteer time through the Bergen County, N.J., Legal
Societies.
A BOOK AND MOVIE
Healthcare, Guaranteed: A Simple, Secure Solution
for America, by Ezekiel Emanuel and Victor Fuchs;
and Quantum of Solace.
—ROGER ADLER
An earlier version of this profile appeared in The
National Law Journal on April 6, 2009.
