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5 Doctors Are Charged With Taking Kickbacks for Fentanyl Prescriptions
"One of the defendants, Dr. Goldstein, sometimes did not even stay for a meal at the programs where he was the featured speaker, instead ordering food from the restaurant and leaving with it, according to the indictment. Before one program in 2014, the indictment added, Dr. Goldstein wrote to an Insys sales representative, asking, “Is dinner take out or we expecting peeps?”
New Rochelle MD Pushed Fentanyl Spray For Big Pharma: US Attorney
Prosecutors made these accusations (defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty):
Freedman's Participation in the SchemeFREEDMAN was a doctor certified in pain management and anesthesiology who owned a private pain management office on Manhattan's Upper East Side. FREEDMAN, who was also an Associate Clinical Professor at a large hospital in Manhattan ("Hospital-1"), received approximately $308,600 in Speaker Program fees from Pharma Company-1 in exchange for prescribing large volumes of the Fentanyl Spray.In March 2013, a Regional Sales Manager for Pharma Company-1 sent an email to FREEDMAN informing him that he would receive more Speaker Programs in the coming months because Pharma Company-1 wanted prescriptions of the Fentanyl Spray to increase, and urging FREEDMAN to put more patients on the Fentanyl Spray. FREEDMAN responded, in part, "Got it," and significantly increased his Fentanyl Spray prescriptions in the following months, during which he received approximately $33,600 in Speaker Program fees.In 2014, FREEDMAN's prescriptions of the Fentanyl Spray rose even further, and he was the fourth-highest prescriber of the Fentanyl Spray nationally in the final quarter of 2014, accounting for approximately $1,132,287 in overall net sales of the Fentanyl Spray in that quarter. During 2014, FREEDMAN was the highest-paid Pharma Company-1 Speaker in the nation, receiving approximately $143,000.Goldstein's Participation in the SchemeGOLDSTEIN was a doctor of osteopathic medicine who owned a private medical office on the Upper East Side. GOLDSTEIN received approximately $196,000 in Speaker Program fees from Pharma Company-1 in exchange for prescribing large volumes of the Fentanyl Spray. After GOLDSTEIN began prescribing a competitor painkiller, Pharma Company-1 pressured him to stop doing so and switch patients to the Fentanyl Spray, which GOLDSTEIN did.In 2014, GOLDSTEIN was approximately the fifth-highest-paid Pharma Company-1 Speaker nationally. He was the sixth-highest prescriber of the Fentanyl Spray in the last quarter of 2014, accounting for approximately $809,275 in overall net sales of the Fentanyl Spray in that quarter.SCHLIFSTEIN's Participation in the SchemeSCHLIFSTEIN was a doctor certified in physical medicine and rehabilitation who co-owned with GOLDSTEIN a private medical office on the Upper East Side. SCHLIFSTEIN, who also worked as an attending physiatrist and consulting physician at two other Manhattan hospitals, received approximately $127,100 in Speaker Program fees from Pharma Company-1 in exchange for prescribing large volumes of the Fentanyl Spray.In or about October 2013, SCHLIFSTEIN expressed an interest in becoming a Speaker for Pharma Company-1. So a senior Pharma Company-1 executive traveled to New York, and took SCHLIFSTEIN, GOLDSTEIN, and others, to a Manhattan strip club where Pharma Company-1 spent approximately $4,100 on a private room, alcoholic drinks, and "lap dances" for SCHLIFSTEIN and GOLDSTEIN. In the month following that outing and SCHLIFSTEIN's nomination as a Speaker, SCHLIFSTEIN's Fentanyl Spray prescriptions increased substantially.In late 2014, Pharma Company-1 significantly decreased SCHLIFSTEIN's Speaker Programs in order to send a message to SCHLIFSTEIN that he would need to prescribe larger volumes of the Fentanyl Spray. In response, SCHLIFSTEIN repeatedly requested more Speaker Programs. Pharma Company-1 told SCHLIFSTEIN it would assign him more Speaker Programs only if he prescribed larger volumes of the Fentanyl Spray. SCHLIFSTEIN's Fentanyl Spray prescriptions then increased substantially, and Pharma Company-1 rewarded him with more Speaker Programs.By the end of the second quarter of 2015, SCHLIFSTEIN was approximately the 19th-highest prescriber of the Fentanyl Spray nationally, accounting for approximately $593,373 in net sales in that quarter.VOUDOURIS's Participation in the SchemeVOUDOURIS was a doctor specializing in oncology and hematology who worked at a private medical office on the Upper East Side, and was an Assistant Clinical Professor at Hospital-1. VOUDOURIS received approximately $119,400 in Speaker Program fees from Pharma Company-1 in exchange for prescribing large volumes of the Fentanyl Spray.In September 2014, VOUDOURIS, who had recently been nominated as a Speaker, had dinner with, among others, several Pharma Company-1 executives, as well as Roper and Serrano. During the dinner, the Pharma Company-1 Vice-President of Sales told VOUDOURIS that he wanted her to prescribe the Fentanyl Spray to one new patient every day, and that VOUDOURIS would be allocated Speaker Programs if she continued prescribing the Fentanyl Spray.In the week that followed the dinner, VOUDOURIS did not prescribe what Pharma Company-1 viewed as an adequate quantity of the Fentanyl Spray. Roper and Serrano met with VOUDOURIS and told her that Pharma Company-1 expected VOUDOURIS to write more Fentanyl Spray prescriptions. In the months that followed the dinner and this conversation, VOUDOURIS's Fentanyl Spray prescriptions rose significantly.By the end of the first quarter of 2015, VOUDOURIS was approximately the 10th-highest prescriber of the Fentanyl Spray nationally, accounting for total net sales of the Fentanyl Spray of approximately $581,500 in that quarter.BURDUCEA's Participation in the SchemeBURDUCEA was a doctor certified in pain management and anesthesiology, was an Assistant Professor of anesthesiology at Hospital-1, and practiced at an anesthesiology and pain management office associated with Hospital-1. BURDUCEA received approximately $68,400 in Speaker Program fees from Pharma Company-1 in exchange for prescribing large volumes of the Fentanyl Spray. In addition, Pharma Company-1 hired BURDUCEA's then-girlfriend, now wife ("CC-1"), to work as BURDUCEA's sales representative and paid her in large part based on the volume of Fentanyl Spray prescribed by her assigned doctors, including BURDUCEA.By the end of the end of the second quarter of 2015, BURDUCEA was approximately the 14th-highest prescriber of the Fentanyl Spray nationally, accounting for total net sales of the Fentanyl Spray of approximately $621,345 in that quarter.
"One of the defendants, Dr. Goldstein, sometimes did not even stay for a meal at the programs where he was the featured speaker, instead ordering food from the restaurant and leaving with it, according to the indictment. Before one program in 2014, the indictment added, Dr. Goldstein wrote to an Insys sales representative, asking, “Is dinner take out or we expecting peeps?”
New Rochelle MD Pushed Fentanyl Spray For Big Pharma: US Attorney
Prosecutors made these accusations (defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty):
Freedman's Participation in the SchemeFREEDMAN was a doctor certified in pain management and anesthesiology who owned a private pain management office on Manhattan's Upper East Side. FREEDMAN, who was also an Associate Clinical Professor at a large hospital in Manhattan ("Hospital-1"), received approximately $308,600 in Speaker Program fees from Pharma Company-1 in exchange for prescribing large volumes of the Fentanyl Spray.In March 2013, a Regional Sales Manager for Pharma Company-1 sent an email to FREEDMAN informing him that he would receive more Speaker Programs in the coming months because Pharma Company-1 wanted prescriptions of the Fentanyl Spray to increase, and urging FREEDMAN to put more patients on the Fentanyl Spray. FREEDMAN responded, in part, "Got it," and significantly increased his Fentanyl Spray prescriptions in the following months, during which he received approximately $33,600 in Speaker Program fees.In 2014, FREEDMAN's prescriptions of the Fentanyl Spray rose even further, and he was the fourth-highest prescriber of the Fentanyl Spray nationally in the final quarter of 2014, accounting for approximately $1,132,287 in overall net sales of the Fentanyl Spray in that quarter. During 2014, FREEDMAN was the highest-paid Pharma Company-1 Speaker in the nation, receiving approximately $143,000.Goldstein's Participation in the SchemeGOLDSTEIN was a doctor of osteopathic medicine who owned a private medical office on the Upper East Side. GOLDSTEIN received approximately $196,000 in Speaker Program fees from Pharma Company-1 in exchange for prescribing large volumes of the Fentanyl Spray. After GOLDSTEIN began prescribing a competitor painkiller, Pharma Company-1 pressured him to stop doing so and switch patients to the Fentanyl Spray, which GOLDSTEIN did.In 2014, GOLDSTEIN was approximately the fifth-highest-paid Pharma Company-1 Speaker nationally. He was the sixth-highest prescriber of the Fentanyl Spray in the last quarter of 2014, accounting for approximately $809,275 in overall net sales of the Fentanyl Spray in that quarter.SCHLIFSTEIN's Participation in the SchemeSCHLIFSTEIN was a doctor certified in physical medicine and rehabilitation who co-owned with GOLDSTEIN a private medical office on the Upper East Side. SCHLIFSTEIN, who also worked as an attending physiatrist and consulting physician at two other Manhattan hospitals, received approximately $127,100 in Speaker Program fees from Pharma Company-1 in exchange for prescribing large volumes of the Fentanyl Spray.In or about October 2013, SCHLIFSTEIN expressed an interest in becoming a Speaker for Pharma Company-1. So a senior Pharma Company-1 executive traveled to New York, and took SCHLIFSTEIN, GOLDSTEIN, and others, to a Manhattan strip club where Pharma Company-1 spent approximately $4,100 on a private room, alcoholic drinks, and "lap dances" for SCHLIFSTEIN and GOLDSTEIN. In the month following that outing and SCHLIFSTEIN's nomination as a Speaker, SCHLIFSTEIN's Fentanyl Spray prescriptions increased substantially.In late 2014, Pharma Company-1 significantly decreased SCHLIFSTEIN's Speaker Programs in order to send a message to SCHLIFSTEIN that he would need to prescribe larger volumes of the Fentanyl Spray. In response, SCHLIFSTEIN repeatedly requested more Speaker Programs. Pharma Company-1 told SCHLIFSTEIN it would assign him more Speaker Programs only if he prescribed larger volumes of the Fentanyl Spray. SCHLIFSTEIN's Fentanyl Spray prescriptions then increased substantially, and Pharma Company-1 rewarded him with more Speaker Programs.By the end of the second quarter of 2015, SCHLIFSTEIN was approximately the 19th-highest prescriber of the Fentanyl Spray nationally, accounting for approximately $593,373 in net sales in that quarter.VOUDOURIS's Participation in the SchemeVOUDOURIS was a doctor specializing in oncology and hematology who worked at a private medical office on the Upper East Side, and was an Assistant Clinical Professor at Hospital-1. VOUDOURIS received approximately $119,400 in Speaker Program fees from Pharma Company-1 in exchange for prescribing large volumes of the Fentanyl Spray.In September 2014, VOUDOURIS, who had recently been nominated as a Speaker, had dinner with, among others, several Pharma Company-1 executives, as well as Roper and Serrano. During the dinner, the Pharma Company-1 Vice-President of Sales told VOUDOURIS that he wanted her to prescribe the Fentanyl Spray to one new patient every day, and that VOUDOURIS would be allocated Speaker Programs if she continued prescribing the Fentanyl Spray.In the week that followed the dinner, VOUDOURIS did not prescribe what Pharma Company-1 viewed as an adequate quantity of the Fentanyl Spray. Roper and Serrano met with VOUDOURIS and told her that Pharma Company-1 expected VOUDOURIS to write more Fentanyl Spray prescriptions. In the months that followed the dinner and this conversation, VOUDOURIS's Fentanyl Spray prescriptions rose significantly.By the end of the first quarter of 2015, VOUDOURIS was approximately the 10th-highest prescriber of the Fentanyl Spray nationally, accounting for total net sales of the Fentanyl Spray of approximately $581,500 in that quarter.BURDUCEA's Participation in the SchemeBURDUCEA was a doctor certified in pain management and anesthesiology, was an Assistant Professor of anesthesiology at Hospital-1, and practiced at an anesthesiology and pain management office associated with Hospital-1. BURDUCEA received approximately $68,400 in Speaker Program fees from Pharma Company-1 in exchange for prescribing large volumes of the Fentanyl Spray. In addition, Pharma Company-1 hired BURDUCEA's then-girlfriend, now wife ("CC-1"), to work as BURDUCEA's sales representative and paid her in large part based on the volume of Fentanyl Spray prescribed by her assigned doctors, including BURDUCEA.By the end of the end of the second quarter of 2015, BURDUCEA was approximately the 14th-highest prescriber of the Fentanyl Spray nationally, accounting for total net sales of the Fentanyl Spray of approximately $621,345 in that quarter.
