Victims of Kansas City pharmacist Robert Courtney, who pled guilty to twenty Federal counts of drug tampering in February, say two pharmaceutical companies knew Courtney was diluting cancer medications for several years before his arrest. In a new motion filed Monday, patient attorneys accuse Eli Lilly Co. and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. of failing to contact government health regulators after discovering discrepancies involving Courtney's drug orders. Courtney admitted to diluting more than 70 medications, affecting 4,000 patients and 98,000 prescriptions.

Using advanced tracking systems, employees with Eli and Bristol allegedly discovered in 1998 that the pharmacist was fraudulently selling more of the drugs Gemzar and Taxol to oncologists than he was purchasing from the companies. According to the motion, however, both pharmaceutical makers failed to act on the information. Courtney, still awaiting sentencing, faces 17 to 30 years in prison.