Doctors in legal trouble for billing for free drug samples

The case is a reminder that physicians should look closely at offers they receive from pharmaceutical companies.

By Tanya Albert, AMNews staff. July 14, 2003.

The federal government's investigation of AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals' drug marketing and pricing practices not only netted a $355 million settlement from the company, it snared several physicians as well.

Two urologists -- Saad Antoun, MD, of Holmdel, N.J., and Stanley Hopkins, MD, of Boca Raton, Fla. -- pleaded guilty for their role in conspiring to bill for Zoladex samples they received for free. At press time, a third physician -- Robert Berkman, MD, of Columbus, Ohio -- was scheduled to enter a plea in court July 17.

"Doctors shouldn't bill for samples," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Beth Moskow-Schnoll, who handled the criminal investigation and prosecution in the AstraZeneca case.

The physicians, who did not return phone calls for comment, have not been sentenced.

They face a maximum of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release.

Through its investigation, the government found that the physicians considered the samples as part of a discount for buying the medication from the company, Moskow-Schnoll said. For example, the physicians would pay $1,000 for eight boxes of the drug and get a ninth box for free.

"But the drugs they billed [government programs] for were clearly marked as samples, and they were being signed for as samples," Moskow-Schnoll said.

The charges against the physicians are part of a larger case against Wilmington, Del.-based AstraZeneca. In late June, the company pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate the Prescription Drug Marketing Act by providing free samples of Zoladex to urologists who then billed government health programs for the drugs between 1993 and 1996. As part of the plea agreement, the company will pay a nearly $64 million criminal fine, according to the Dept. of Justice.