Drug Diversion Fraud Lawsuits: USDOJ: South Carolina Pharmaceutical Distribution Company Pleads Guilty in Multi-Million Dollar Scheme to Purchase and Sell Drugs in the Grey Market

Drug Diversion Fraud Can Be The Basis of Federal False Claims Act and Qui Tam Whistle Blower Lawsuits by Drug Diversion Fraud Whistle Blower Lawyer, Adulterated Drug Whistle Blower Lawyer, and Drug Diversion Fraud Qui Tam Lawyer Jason S. Coomer

Drug Diversion Fraud can the basis of a qui tam whistle blower lawsuit under the Federal False Claims Act resulting in large financial rewards for drug diversion fraud whistle blowers that properly blow the whistle on large scale prescription drug schemes that divert prescription drugs from lawful channels of drug wholesale distribution to illegal distribution channels at increased costs.  These prescription drugs schemes can include adulterated drug fraud, illegal drug kickbacks, or other pharmaceutical manufacturing fraud that create dangerous drugs and illegal use of prescription drugs.  For more information on drug diversion fraud, please feel free to contact Drug Whistle Blower Lawyer and Drug Diversion Qui Tam Lawyer Jason Coomer.

USDOJ: South Carolina Pharmaceutical Distribution Company Pleads Guilty in Multi-Million Dollar Scheme to Purchase and Sell Drugs in the Grey Market

The Department of Justice announced the guilty plea and sentencing of Easley, S.C.-based Altec Medical for engaging in a multi-million dollar prescription drug scheme.  Altec Medical pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Miami to one count of conspiring to defraud the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and to commit federal offenses in connection with a drug-diversion scheme that lasted from 2007 to 2009.

 

In the sentencing, U.S. District Judge Robert N. Scola, Jr. ordered Altec to pay a $2 million fine and to forfeit $1 million. The judge also ordered the company to be on probation for one year.

 

In a criminal information filed with the court, the government charged that Altec paid its supplier and co-conspirator William D. Rodriguez, approximately $55 million for prescription drugs that it knew had been diverted from lawful channels of drug wholesale distribution.    “Drug Diversion” refers to various ways in which prescription drugs are removed from lawful channels of distribution and then reintroduced into the marketplace for sale to consumers. In drug diversion schemes, prescription drugs at issue are often stolen from warehouses or cargo trucks; torn from boxes of free samples, repackaged and resold; or bought from individual patients looking to make extra money.