“Grey Market” Crackdown Exposes Physicians of Fraud
The federal government’s investigation into illegal drug importations through what officials call the “grey market” has led to the arrest of many doctors, including two East Tennessee cancer doctors.
The doctors, authorities find, would obtain unauthorized drugs through sources outside of the U.S., many of which were manufactured without oversight from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The physicians would purchase these drugs at a cut-rate price and then sell them to patients while billing their insurance provider full price.
While the drugs, at least, for the Tennessee cases, have not been found to be dangerous or ineffective, many of the “counterfeit” products have little to none of the active ingredients found in real, brand-name medications. In some cases, the packaging of the medication was tampered, and they were found to be full of water and mold.
The federal cases even involve brand-name cancer treatment drugs, such as Rituxan and Avastin, which were imported from countries such as India, Turkey, the European Union, and even Canada, but the drugs are not approved for import or sale in the United States.
The Tennessee cases involved a Johnson City doctor, William R. Kincaid, and Greeneville physician and wife, Dr. Anindya K. Sen and Patricia Posey Sen. In 2012, Kincaid plead guilty to a single count of “receiving in interstate commerce a misbranded drug with intent to defraud or mislead,” racking up a punishment of a two-year term in federal prison and a $10,000 fine.
While the Sens’ case is still awaiting sentencing, their jury trial has only convicted them of lesser misdemeanor charges of “causing the introduction into interstate commerce of misbranded drugs.”
Authorities view the trafficking of “grey market” drugs as fraud and theft, charging unknowing patients full price for unauthorized medicines, and plan to continue investigations to prevent these unauthorized drugs from being further distributed.
If you or a loved one have been the victims of receiving fraudulent medicines, call today to speak with an attorney to find out how you can be given the justice you deserve.
