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                       SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

                             Washington, D.C. 20549

                                    FORM 8-K

                                 CURRENT REPORT

                     Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the
                        Securities Exchange Act of 1934

        Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): August 6, 1997

                                 OMNICARE, INC.
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             (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

                                    Delaware
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                 (State or other jurisdiction of incorporation)

            1-8269                                    31-1001351
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    (Commission File Number)              (IRS Employer Identification No.)

      50 East RiverCenter Boulevard, Suite 1530, Covington, Kentucky 41011
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          (Address of principal executive offices)         (Zip Code)

       Registrant's telephone number, including area code: (606) 655-1180
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Item 5. Other Events

    On August 6, 1997, Omnicare, Inc. issued the following press release:

         OMNICARE REACHES TENTATIVE SETTLEMENT IN PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED
             FEDERAL INVESTIGATION AT HOME PHARMACY SERVICES, INC.

     CINCINNATI, OHIO, AUGUST 6, 1997 . . . Omnicare, Inc. (NYSE:OCR) today
announced that it has reached a tentative settlement, subject to final federal
and State governmental approvals, with the U.S. Attorney's office in the
Southern District of Illinois regarding the previously announced federal
investigation of Home Pharmacy Services, Inc., the Company's wholly owned
institutional pharmacy subsidiary in Belleville, Illinois.

         Accordingly, Omnicare will establish a reserve of $6.3 million for the
estimated costs and legal and other expenses associated with resolving the
investigation. The reserve will be recorded as a pretax charge to earnings in
the quarter ending September 30, 1997. The settlement, when finalized, is not
expected to result in any criminal charges against Home Pharmacy Services.
Additionally, Home Pharmacy Services is expected to continue to participate in
government reimbursement programs under the terms of the tentative settlement.

         As previously announced, in May 1996 the Company became aware of a
government investigation of Home Pharmacy Services and certain individuals
employed there at that time. Omnicare has been informed that Home Pharmacy
Services is the sole focus of the investigation and that neither Omnicare nor
any of its other operating units are targets of the inquiry. Omnicare continues
to cooperate fully with the government investigation in an effort to bring the
matter to a timely resolution.

     Home Pharmacy Services, which was acquired by Omnicare in 1992, has
continued to provide complete pharmacy services to nursing facility residents
in its market area without interruption. The pharmacy operation accounted for
less than 3% of Omnicare's total sales and earnings in the second quarter of
1997.


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         For the six months ended June 30, 1997, Omnicare reported pretax
income of $49.4 million and net income of $30.0 million (excluding acquisition
expenses related to pooling-of-interests transactions) on revenues of $384.7
million. For the second quarter ended June 30, 1997, the Company reported
pretax income of $25.8 million and net income of $15.7 million (excluding
aforementioned acquisition-related expenses) on revenues of $203.1 million.

         Omnicare is a leading independent provider of professional pharmacy
and related consulting services for long-term care facilities such as nursing
homes, retirement centers and other institutional health care facilities.
Omnicare currently provides pharmacy and related consulting services to
approximately 361,400 residents in over 4,400 long-term care facilities.

         For more information on Omnicare, Inc. via the Internet, including a
full menu of news releases, visit our Corporate News on The Net site at
http://www.businesswire.com/cnn/ocr.htm

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                                   SIGNATURE

    Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

                                                      Omnicare, Inc.
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                                                      (Registrant)

Date: August 6, 1997                           By: /s/ David W. Froesel, Jr.
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                                                   David W. Froesel, Jr.
                                                   Senior Vice President and
                                                   Chief Financial Officer
                                                   (Principal Financial and
                                                    Accounting Officer)