Las Vegas trips, spa treatments and luxury dinners: the bribes that a pharmacist was selling his medications

An American pharmacist bribed her employees and doctors with all sorts of gifts to circulate an extremely expensive drug.

According to the accusations of two former employees of Questcor, the company donated gift cards to Starbucks, trips to Las Vegas and dinners at the most luxurious restaurants in exchange for selling their products.

The lawsuit had been initiated since 2012, but it was barely completed last month when the US government decided to intervene.

The actions of Mallinckrodt, the pharmaceutical company that bought Questcor, dropped 14% after CNN inform on the request.

The drug in question is called Acthar and is used to treat convulsions in children, but thanks to rising prices, it has become very profitable and the company has been pressuring doctors for it to # 39; uses. "off labeland it will be prescribed for other ailments like multiple sclerosis and other chronic diseases.

Acthar cost each patient about $ 150,000, when on the market there was an alternative for the same treatment much cheaper 800 USDinsured complainants.

Mallinckrodt is defended by claiming that the lawsuit was several years old and that the charges corresponded directly to Questcor. It even cooperates with the Department of Justice to try to mitigate the possible consequences.

"The claim relates primarily to allegations of conduct prior to the acquisition of Acthar Gel by Mallinckrodt, we do not anticipate any impact on how Mallinckrodt conducts business today.", the company said in a statement.

The pharmacy would have hired a sales specialist to take the doctors to Las Vegas and pay them luxury spa treatments.

Another doctor, who has his office in New York, began prescribing Acthar after a lavish dinner was invited, along with his wife, to a restaurant at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Westchester, according to the complaint.

When the doctors had not had a meeting with the vendors, the sales staff would have resorted to bribing the office staff with gift cards. Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks. Some of these gifts were valued at 500 USD.

According to the lawsuit, other methods also consisted of distributing research funds to the doctors who promoted the product.