Fraud Charges Are Welcome in Valeant, Philidor Kickback Scheme
Nov. 17, 2016
Fraud Charges Are Welcome in Valeant, Philidor Kickback Scheme
Statement of Peter Maybarduk, Director, Public Citizen’s Access to Medicines Program
Note: Today, the U.S. Department of Justice announced charges against Gary Tanner, a former executive at Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc., and Andrew Davenport, the former chief executive officer of Philidor Rx Services LLC, for engaging in an egregious fraud and kickback scheme. Specialty pharmacy Philidor steered prescriptions to the manufacturer Valeant, its exclusive client.
The culture of criminality and misconduct at Valeant, while extreme, is far too common among prescription drug corporations. A Public Citizen report shows that the pharmaceutical industry has systematically defrauded the federal and state governments over the past 25 years, racking up $36 billion dollars in settlement penalties. This mass robbery of the American people leads to treatment rationing and puts our lives at risk.
The alleged Valeant-Philidor relationship is, like so much pharma fraud, a purposeful criminal strategy to keep our medication prices high. We applaud the Department of Justice for bringing charges against pharma executives who rip off consumers. We need tougher penalties and successful prosecutions, including jail time for crooked executives who oversee fraud, to deter industry-standard corporate criminal behavior.
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