An Italian probe alleges officials with Purdue Pharma’s foreign arm paid kickbacks to promote painkillers. AP’s report outraged a congresswoman who has urged international organizations to do more to rein in Big Pharma: “It makes me feel sick.'
about the show quoted Fanelli saying common anti-inflammatory drugs were overused and that opioids should be prescribed instead.was hosted by the nonprofit Vivere Senza Dolore, or “Living Without Pain.” The president of the board was Marta Gentili, Mundipharma’s marketing manager in Italy. The secretary, according to prosecutors, was the founder of a public relations firm that counted Mundipharma’s Italian branch among its clients.
Investigators also were listening when Fanelli complained about Mundipharma to an alleged co-conspirator; the other man joked that Fanelli should be careful and his yacht might as well have “the logo Mundipharma on its stern” because of all the money he’d supposedly gotten. Fanelli retorted that “GF,” his initials, should be on a Mundipharma executive’s bank account because he’d helped the company make millions off drugs.
It was “exclusively a marketing event, formally authorized for scientific aims,” prosecutors contend, “but which had nothing to do with being scientifically independent.”At 4 a.m. on May 8, 2017, police fanned out across Italy, pounding on doors, rounding up physicians and executives, and carting off documents from offices.
In January, Filippini and Cerbai agreed to plea bargains. Filippini got a suspended sentence of one year, 10 months and one day, while Cerbai received a suspended sentence of one year, six months and seven days. The executives declined interviews through their lawyer. Deputy Prosecutor Paola Dal Monte has requested indictments against 55 people and 10 companies. Mundipharma and Grunenthal Italia are not among them, because they accepted plea bargains for failing to prevent the alleged activities. Mundipharma’s Italian branch was fined 40,000 euros and Grunenthal Italia, 50,000 euros.Grunenthal retrained employees and created a whistleblower hotline, Kracala said.
Several of his patients have recently returned from the emergency room for sprained ankles or backaches with prescriptions, feeding his fear that some doctors don’t recognize the risk.
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