Fw: AstraZeneca Pleads Guilty in Cancer Medicine Scheme--- NYTArticle Illustrates Why IAHF Fights On

[Guest guest]

-

<vizual

Sunday, June 22, 2003 4:45 PM

AstraZeneca Pleads Guilty in Cancer Medicine Scheme--- NYTArticle

Illustrates Why IAHF Fights On

 

 

>

> New York Times, 21 June 2003

>

>

> Source:

>

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/21/business/21CANC.html?ex=1056772800 & amp;en=

> ac2944953bc14917 & amp;ei=5062 & amp;partner=GOOGLE

>

>

> AstraZeneca Pleads Guilty in Cancer Medicine Scheme

>

> By MELODY PETERSEN

>

>

> WILMINGTON, Del., June 20 - AstraZeneca, the large pharmaceutical company,

> pleaded guilty today to a felony charge of health care fraud and agreed to

> pay $355 million to settle criminal and civil accusations that it engaged

in

> a nationwide scheme to illegally market a prostate cancer drug.

>

> The government said the company's employees had given illegal financial

> inducements to as many as 400 doctors across the country to persuade them

to

> prescribe the drug, Zoladex. Those inducements included thousands of free

> samples of Zoladex, worth hundreds of dollars each, which the physicians

> then billed to Medicare and other federal health care programs,

prosecutors

> said. The company also gave doctors financial grants, paid them as

> consultants and provided free travel and entertainment, the government

said.

>

> The $355 million that AstraZeneca, a British company, agreed to pay is

among

> the largest settlements in a heath care fraud case. Of that amount, about

> $64 million is a criminal fine. The company will pay about $266 million to

> the federal government to settle most of the civil accusations. An

> additional $25 million will go to settle accusations that it defrauded the

> Medicaid programs, which are partly financed by the states.

>

> The largest fine for health care fraud came in a settlement in October

2001

> by TAP Pharmaceutical Products. It agreed to pay $875 million to settle

> criminal and civil accusations that it had engaged in a scheme that

largely

> mirrors the allegations made by prosecutors against AstraZeneca.

>

> " We want doctors to prescribe what is best for their patients and not what

> is best for the doctor's bank account, " Richard G. Andrews, first

assistant

> United States attorney for the District of Delaware, said at a news

> conference. He and other prosecutors said the government's action should

> send a message to all pharmaceutical companies that such conduct will not

be

> tolerated.

>

> Prosecutors said that they did not plan to charge any AstraZeneca

employees

> for the illegal activities that they say began in 1991 and continued until

> last year.

>

> " The investigation did not discover any evidence to implicate

AstraZeneca's

> upper levels of management, " Mr. Andrews said.

>

> Mr. Andrews said that AstraZeneca had reported false and inflated prices

for

> Zoladex to the federal government so that doctors could earn significant

> profits by prescribing the drug. Medicare reimbursed the doctors based on

> the inflated prices that AstraZeneca reported, he said, while the company

> charged doctors for the drug at deep discounts.

>

> For example, the company reported to the government that the average

> wholesale price for a monthly dose of Zoladex was about $300, prosecutors

> said, but doctors were charged about $170 for that dose. That resulted in

a

> $130 profit to the doctor, the government said.

>

> Rachel Bloom-Baglin, a spokeswoman for AstraZeneca, said today that the

> company was accepting responsibility for giving doctors free samples of

> Zoladex with the understanding that they would bill the government for

them.

> These activities, which took place from 1993 to 1996, resulted in the

> criminal charge.

>

> But she said that the company disagreed with prosecutors on the other

> charges, including the accusation that it had provided false and inflated

> pricing information to the government.

>

> " We disagree with the government on this, but to put it behind us, we are

> agreeing to a settlement today, " Ms. Bloom-Baglin said. " We believe that

> this is in the best interest of our company and employees. "

>

> " We strongly believe that the pricing for Zoladex was at all times

lawful, "

> she added.

>

> Zoladex is one of a limited number of medicines that doctors buy directly

> from drug companies and that Medicare now pays for. Many of these

medicines

> are used for cancer patients and are administered in doctors' offices.

>

> Earlier, the government charged three urologists with conspiring to bill

the

> free Zoladex samples they received from the company to the federal

> government. Two of those doctors have pleaded guilty and await sentencing.

>

> " Whether any further doctors should be charged is an ongoing question, "

Mr.

> Andrews said.

>

> The government's seven-year investigation of the marketing of Zoladex

began

> after an executive at TAP, a competitor, filed a whistle-blower lawsuit

> against both TAP and AstraZeneca, prosecutors said.

>

> The two companies compete aggressively in the prostate cancer market, with

> TAP, a joint venture of Abbott Laboratories and Takeda Chemical

Industries,

> selling a drug called Lupron. Both drugs are considered equally effective

at

> halting the production of testosterone, but they are administered

> differently. Zoladex consists of tiny pellets that must be injected with a

> larger needle than that used for Lupron, which comes in a liquid form.

>

> The criminal investigation in the TAP case is continuing. More than a

dozen

> current and former employees have been charged with conspiracy to pay

> kickbacks to doctors, including Alan MacKenzie, who was the president of

> Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America at the time of the indictments. One

> employee has pleaded guilty; the others have denied any wrongdoing.

>

> Several urologists were also charged in the TAP case.

>

> The whistle-blower, Douglas N. Durand, a former vice president for sales

at

> TAP, will receive $47.5 million of the settlement in the AstraZeneca case

as

> allowed by federal law. Mr. Durand already received $77 million from the

TAP

> case.

>

> Lupron has long dominated the market and prosecutors said that was why

> AstraZeneca was not forced to pay as high a fine as TAP. Sales of Lupron

> were $876 million in the United States last year, compared with $212

million

> for Zoladex.

>

> The two cases are part of a growing number of investigations and lawsuits

> into the marketing practices of pharmaceutical companies. AstraZeneca

> disclosed earlier this year that federal prosecutors in Boston had

requested

> documents about the sale of Prilosec, a drug for ulcers and severe

> heartburn. The company also said the Federal Trade Commission was

> investigating its advertising and marketing of Nexium, the company's new

> heartburn drug.

> ------------PLEASE FORWARD THIS WIDELY!!!!

>

> PLEASE DONATE TO ANH LAWSUIT TO OVERTURN THE EU FOOD SUPPLEMENT

DIRECTIVE!!!

> HUGE GLOBAL IMPLICATIONS!!!

> DONATE VIA http://www.alliance-natural-health.org want info?

> http://www.iahf.com/anh_lawsuit.html also

> http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2003/2003_preprint_eu_01.html

>

> Donate to IAHF via http://www.iahf.com (paypal) or IAHF POB 10632

Blacksburg

> VA 24062 USA and lets keep this ball rolling, we WILL WIN!

> International Advocates for Health Freedom

> POB 10632 Blacksburg VA 24062 USA

> http://www.iahf.com; http://iadsa-exposed.tripod.com

> 800-333-2553 N.America

> 540-961-0476 World

>

>

[Guest guest]

-

<vizual

Sunday, June 22, 2003 4:45 PM

AstraZeneca Pleads Guilty in Cancer Medicine Scheme--- NYTArticle

Illustrates Why IAHF Fights On

 

 

>

> New York Times, 21 June 2003

>

>

> Source:

>

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/21/business/21CANC.html?ex=1056772800 & amp;en=

> ac2944953bc14917 & amp;ei=5062 & amp;partner=GOOGLE

>

>

> AstraZeneca Pleads Guilty in Cancer Medicine Scheme

>

> By MELODY PETERSEN

>

>

> WILMINGTON, Del., June 20 - AstraZeneca, the large pharmaceutical company,

> pleaded guilty today to a felony charge of health care fraud and agreed to

> pay $355 million to settle criminal and civil accusations that it engaged

in

> a nationwide scheme to illegally market a prostate cancer drug.

>

> The government said the company's employees had given illegal financial

> inducements to as many as 400 doctors across the country to persuade them

to

> prescribe the drug, Zoladex. Those inducements included thousands of free

> samples of Zoladex, worth hundreds of dollars each, which the physicians

> then billed to Medicare and other federal health care programs,

prosecutors

> said. The company also gave doctors financial grants, paid them as

> consultants and provided free travel and entertainment, the government

said.

>

> The $355 million that AstraZeneca, a British company, agreed to pay is

among

> the largest settlements in a heath care fraud case. Of that amount, about

> $64 million is a criminal fine. The company will pay about $266 million to

> the federal government to settle most of the civil accusations. An

> additional $25 million will go to settle accusations that it defrauded the

> Medicaid programs, which are partly financed by the states.

>

> The largest fine for health care fraud came in a settlement in October

2001

> by TAP Pharmaceutical Products. It agreed to pay $875 million to settle

> criminal and civil accusations that it had engaged in a scheme that

largely

> mirrors the allegations made by prosecutors against AstraZeneca.

>

> " We want doctors to prescribe what is best for their patients and not what

> is best for the doctor's bank account, " Richard G. Andrews, first

assistant

> United States attorney for the District of Delaware, said at a news

> conference. He and other prosecutors said the government's action should

> send a message to all pharmaceutical companies that such conduct will not

be

> tolerated.

>

> Prosecutors said that they did not plan to charge any AstraZeneca

employees

> for the illegal activities that they say began in 1991 and continued until

> last year.

>

> " The investigation did not discover any evidence to implicate

AstraZeneca's

> upper levels of management, " Mr. Andrews said.

>

> Mr. Andrews said that AstraZeneca had reported false and inflated prices

for

> Zoladex to the federal government so that doctors could earn significant

> profits by prescribing the drug. Medicare reimbursed the doctors based on

> the inflated prices that AstraZeneca reported, he said, while the company

> charged doctors for the drug at deep discounts.

>

> For example, the company reported to the government that the average

> wholesale price for a monthly dose of Zoladex was about $300, prosecutors

> said, but doctors were charged about $170 for that dose. That resulted in

a

> $130 profit to the doctor, the government said.

>

> Rachel Bloom-Baglin, a spokeswoman for AstraZeneca, said today that the

> company was accepting responsibility for giving doctors free samples of

> Zoladex with the understanding that they would bill the government for

them.

> These activities, which took place from 1993 to 1996, resulted in the

> criminal charge.

>

> But she said that the company disagreed with prosecutors on the other

> charges, including the accusation that it had provided false and inflated

> pricing information to the government.

>

> " We disagree with the government on this, but to put it behind us, we are

> agreeing to a settlement today, " Ms. Bloom-Baglin said. " We believe that

> this is in the best interest of our company and employees. "

>

> " We strongly believe that the pricing for Zoladex was at all times

lawful, "

> she added.

>

> Zoladex is one of a limited number of medicines that doctors buy directly

> from drug companies and that Medicare now pays for. Many of these

medicines

> are used for cancer patients and are administered in doctors' offices.

>

> Earlier, the government charged three urologists with conspiring to bill

the

> free Zoladex samples they received from the company to the federal

> government. Two of those doctors have pleaded guilty and await sentencing.

>

> " Whether any further doctors should be charged is an ongoing question, "

Mr.

> Andrews said.

>

> The government's seven-year investigation of the marketing of Zoladex

began

> after an executive at TAP, a competitor, filed a whistle-blower lawsuit

> against both TAP and AstraZeneca, prosecutors said.

>

> The two companies compete aggressively in the prostate cancer market, with

> TAP, a joint venture of Abbott Laboratories and Takeda Chemical

Industries,

> selling a drug called Lupron. Both drugs are considered equally effective

at

> halting the production of testosterone, but they are administered

> differently. Zoladex consists of tiny pellets that must be injected with a

> larger needle than that used for Lupron, which comes in a liquid form.

>

> The criminal investigation in the TAP case is continuing. More than a

dozen

> current and former employees have been charged with conspiracy to pay

> kickbacks to doctors, including Alan MacKenzie, who was the president of

> Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America at the time of the indictments. One

> employee has pleaded guilty; the others have denied any wrongdoing.

>

> Several urologists were also charged in the TAP case.

>

> The whistle-blower, Douglas N. Durand, a former vice president for sales

at

> TAP, will receive $47.5 million of the settlement in the AstraZeneca case

as

> allowed by federal law. Mr. Durand already received $77 million from the

TAP

> case.

>

> Lupron has long dominated the market and prosecutors said that was why

> AstraZeneca was not forced to pay as high a fine as TAP. Sales of Lupron

> were $876 million in the United States last year, compared with $212

million

> for Zoladex.

>

> The two cases are part of a growing number of investigations and lawsuits

> into the marketing practices of pharmaceutical companies. AstraZeneca

> disclosed earlier this year that federal prosecutors in Boston had

requested

> documents about the sale of Prilosec, a drug for ulcers and severe

> heartburn. The company also said the Federal Trade Commission was

> investigating its advertising and marketing of Nexium, the company's new

> heartburn drug.

> ------------PLEASE FORWARD THIS WIDELY!!!!

>

> PLEASE DONATE TO ANH LAWSUIT TO OVERTURN THE EU FOOD SUPPLEMENT

DIRECTIVE!!!

> HUGE GLOBAL IMPLICATIONS!!!

> DONATE VIA http://www.alliance-natural-health.org want info?

> http://www.iahf.com/anh_lawsuit.html also

> http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2003/2003_preprint_eu_01.html

>

> Donate to IAHF via http://www.iahf.com (paypal) or IAHF POB 10632

Blacksburg

> VA 24062 USA and lets keep this ball rolling, we WILL WIN!

> International Advocates for Health Freedom

> POB 10632 Blacksburg VA 24062 USA

> http://www.iahf.com; http://iadsa-exposed.tripod.com

> 800-333-2553 N.America

> 540-961-0476 World

>

>