Minn. Corporation Indicted in Nationwide Prescription Drug Scheme
http://www.kaaltv.com/article/stories/S3793103.shtml?cat=10151
An Eagan-based corporation was charged in an indictment Monday in the Southern District of Ohio for its role in a nationwide prescription drug diversion scheme.
The indictment alleges that 50-year-old David Miller of Santa Ana, California; and 38-year-old Artur Stepanyan and 29-year-old Mihran Stepanyan—both of Encino, California—participated in a conspiracy with Minnesota Independent Cooperative, Inc. (MIC) to sell prescription drugs from illegal and unlicensed sources to various wholesalers and pharmacies throughout the United States.
Additionally, the 12-count indictment charges the individuals with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, multiple counts of mail fraud, and conspiracy to distribute prescription drugs without a license and to make false statements.
Miller and his company, MIC, paid the Stepanyans roughly $160 million for the prescription drugs that they sourced from a network of unlicensed vendors, according to the indictment.
Throughout the course of the conspiracy charged in the indictment, using falsified pedigree documents, Miller and MIC sold approximately $393 million worth of prescription drugs throughout the U.S.
According to U.S. Attorney Carter Stewart, the unregulated nature of the prescription drugs sold in this diversion scheme presents a danger to the consumer.
“Once a prescription drug is diverted outside of the regulated distribution channels, it becomes difficult, if not impossible, for regulators, law enforcement and end-users to know whether the prescription drug package actually contains the correct drug or the correct dose,” Stewart said in a statement.
According to the Minnesota Board of Pharmacy’s Executive Director Cody Wiberg, MIC was disciplined in 2012 after allegations were made that the corporation was buying from a Puerto Rico-based wholesaler, B&Y Wholesalers. B&Y Wholesalers was not licensed at the time. MIC was reprimanded and given a $10,000 civil penalty.
Wiberg said that around the time of the 2012 reprimand, the state of Minnesota became aware of the federal investigation. The Minnesota Board of Pharmacy, which had followed the investigation for roughly three years, differed to federal agents due to the criminal nature of the investigation.
The Food and Drug Administration and the United States Postal Inspection Service are currently investigating the case.
Filed under: General Problems
Many purchase so called ED drugs like “generic” Viagra,Cialis,and assorted kinds of these knock offs. I ordered them in the past. Sometimes they are inert. Others times they are weak excuses for the real deal. You get lucky sometimes and get a pretty good formula . I can’t really afford 42.00 USD’s a pill. So I take what I can get. It’s dangerous I know. But some pharma’s in third world countries do satisfactory. Know who you are doing business with though.
Funny how the report doesn’t mention anything about patients being harmed by these drugs, unlike the legal but contaminated steroids from the compounding pharmacy.
What do you expect? We’re living in a prohibition era. We’re lucky we don’t have machine gun fights on the street. But hey, give it time.