Pharma 101 - Pharmaceutical Fraud » GlaxoSmithKline

Clinical investigator indicted for fraud in pharmaceutical trials of blockbuster drug

Nolan and Auerbach — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 14:51:06 +0000

NEW ORLEANS — Dr. Maria Carmen Palazzo was indicted by a federal grand jury on 55 counts of health care fraud and false documentation in connection with a clinical trial of Paxil in children and adolescents, U.S. Attorney Jim Letten said on Thursday.

One area of charges involves clinical trial fraud. According to the indictment, Palazzo, as a clinical investigator for SmithKline Beecham doing business as GlaxoSmithKline, fraudulently failed to maintain and prepare records required by the FDA for evaluation the drug’s safety and effectiveness in children and adolescents.

During approximately a five-year period, Palazzo also defrauded Medicare in connection with services she claimed to have rendered to patients in a Psychiatric Partial Hospitalization Program at Touro Infirmary , according to the indictment.

The indictment also charges that Palazzo defrauded Medicare by submitting fraudulent invoices to Touro for consulting and medical director services. The indictment says because of that Medicare paid Palazzo over $653,000 she was not entitled to receive. (Consulting and Medical director costs of hospitals are passed on to Medicare in part, under the cost report system).

See the full story here.

Pharma Group Says “No” To Expensive Gifts to Doctors Which Could Influence Their Drug Choices

Nolan and Auerbach — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 17:51:39 +0000

The International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA), a worldwide trade group said that under their revised ethics code that as of January 1, 2007, they were no longer permitted to provide expensive gifts to doctors. This change to the ethics code was the first in the past 10 years. Members of this trade group are no longer permitted to give physicians money or expensive gifts such as stays in luxury hotels or trips to golf resorts that might influence their prescription drug selections. IFPMA members include Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, Sanofi-Aventis, Eli Lilly, AstraZeneca, Merck and Novartis. Here’s to more reform!

For more information click here.

A Common Industry Practice: False Average Wholesale Price (AWP)?

Nolan and Auerbach — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 15:44:03 +0000

GlaxoSmithKline agreed to pay $70 million to settle state Medicaid claims involving Zofran and Kytril, drugs used for the treatment of cancer. In what a Glaxo spokesperson claimed was a common practice, the allegations included claims that the prices set for these drugs were based on fraudulent inflated figures provided by Glaxo, resulting in increased reimbursement from government programs.

For more information, click here.