Feds: Pharmaceutical exec, VA doctors conspired in fraud

Discussion in 'Osiris' started by anonymous, Mar 21, 2016 at 11:06 AM.

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  1. anonymous

    anonymous Guest

    Feds: Pharmaceutical exec, VA doctors conspired in fraud
    PROSECUTORS SAY DOCTORS RECEIVED EXTRAVAGANT TRIPS, DEF LEPPARD TICKETS TO PROMOTE BIOENGINEERED BANDAGE TO COLLEAGUES

    A former pharmaceutical company executive bribed Veterans Affairs Department doctors in Washington state and elsewhere, paying VA employees thousands of dollars to promote his employer's products, federal prosecutors say.


    Prosecutors claim Advanced BioHealing Inc. executive Todd Clawson and others paid kickbacks to VA podiatrists and clinicians who promoted the company’s product, a “biologic” wound dressing. Clawson has been charged with bribery and health care fraud.

    Writing the court, federal prosecutors in Tacoma said Clawson, his coworkers at Advanced BioHealing and VA physicians conspired to “defraud the United States by impeding and impairing the governmental functions of the VA, including those intended to regulate the ethical practice of physicians working for the VA.”




    Advanced BioHealing, a decade-old Westport, Connecticut company, produces a “living skin equivalent” dressing meant to treat diabetes-related foot sores. The firm was awarded a large federal contract for the product – Dermagraft – in late 2008 shortly after Clawson went to work there.

    According to charging papers, Clawson served as director of the Advanced BioHealing division selling to the federal government. As such, he managed a team of 35 salespersons and was primarily concerned with selling the bioengineered bandages to the VA.

    Advanced BioHealing Inc. made waves in 2011 when an Irish pharmaceutical concern, Shire Plc., bought the company for $750 million. It had been slated to go public the day after the sale went through.

    The sale was a near total bust for Shire. It sold Advanced BioHealing in 2014 to Massachusetts-based Organogenesis after recording a $650 million loss on the venture. The fraud allegations do not extend beyond August 2012, when Clawson left the firm.

    Clawson and others are alleged to have paid to fly a Phoenix VA doctor to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, for a days-long fishing trip in August 2010. According to charging papers, Clawson also plied a VA doctor with Def Leppard tickets in 2011.

    Prosecutors say doctors were taken fishing in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, wined and dined in Los Vegas and flown around the country to promote Dermagraft. At least three VA doctors are said to have been flown to Seattle in 2010 to promote the bandages.

    Writing the court, federal prosecutors said Clawson and others concocted seemingly legitimate reasons to pay thousands of dollars to VA doctors who promoted Dermagraft to their colleagues. Doctors were paid as much as $3,000 to attend “speaking engagements” at dinners paid for by Advanced BioHealing and attended by other VA staff.

    “These events usually took place at a restaurant where the company, and in some instances the VA speaker, would solicit VA personnel to attend, the company would pay for their meals,” Assistant U.S. Attorney David Reese Jennings said in court papers.




    The speaking engagements were held off VA property outside of work hours, Jennings continued, but Advanced BioHealing “lured VA physicians and clinicians to attend by supplying all invited guests with free meals at expensive restaurants.”

    Advanced BioHealing paid VA doctors $1,500 a day to allow sales reps to accompany them as they treated veterans at VA facilities, according to charging papers. Doctors were paid $3,000 to provide “sales training” to Advanced BioHealing staff, the prosecutors continued, and $2,000 to serve on an “advisory board.”

    Clawson and his colleagues are alleged to have paid doctors in Washington, California, Arizona, Ohio, Texas and Georgia.

    Clawson was charged by information Thursday with conspiracy to commit criminal conflicts of interest, bribery and health care fraud. He has also been charged with one count of health care fraud.

    Clawson is expected to appear Monday morning for an initial appearance at U.S. District Court in Seattle. He has not been jailed.
     

  2. anonymous

    anonymous Guest

    Mr Clawson, is one of many. Moving company to company and violating all. And the physicians didn't know better? All thinking they are above the law. Shame on Osiris in the hire.
     
  3. anonymous

    anonymous Guest

    and when does the BS end. The physicians need to go to spend time behind bars.
     
  4. anonymous

    anonymous Guest

    Anyone know whether Todd Clawson has been sentenced and if so is he headed to prison and for how long?
     
  5. anonymous

    anonymous Guest

    It's a simple victimless crime that should not even be considered a crime. People get so worked up over nothing. Companies are supposed to pay for advertising so what is so wrong about paying a few doctors a few grand to promote a medicine? Coca Cola and McDonalds spends hundreds of millions to promote junk food that causes health problems. This country is so screwed up, punish doctors for trying to save lives but pay some Kardashin or some athlete millions to promote makeup and sneakers. Crazy as hell!
     
  6. anonymous

    anonymous Guest

    Influencing medicine/governmental dollars and patient outcomes have nothing in common. Nice try Todd.
     
  7. anonymous

    anonymous Guest

    You're a dope. And you wonder why Healthcare is spiraling out of control. Fraud is a major issue in costs to our healthcare system, genius.
     
  8. anonymous

    anonymous Guest

    Karma...
    https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2017-207

    Press Release


    SEC Charges Biotech Company, Executives With Accounting Fraud
    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
    2017-207

    Washington D.C., Nov. 2, 2017 —

    The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a Maryland-based biotech company and four former top executives with prioritizing revenue growth over lawful accounting and misleading investors in the process.

    The SEC alleges that Osiris Therapeutics routinely overstated company performance and issued fraudulent financial statements for a period of nearly two years. According to the SEC’s complaint, the company improperly recognized revenue using artificially inflated prices, backdated documents to recognize revenue in earlier periods, and prematurely recognized revenue upon delivery of products to be held on consignment. Osiris Therapeutics and its executives also allegedly used pricing data that they knew was false and attempted to book revenue on a fictitious transaction, among other accounting improprieties.

    “As alleged in our complaint, Osiris Therapeutics falsely portrayed to investors that its revenue was growing so rapidly that its performance was consistently exceeding expectations,” said Julie Lutz, Director of the SEC’s Denver Regional Office. “Corporate cultures cannot be so fixated on higher revenues that they use illegal accounting gimmicks to meet the financial numbers they desire.”

    Osiris Therapeutics agreed to settle the charges without admitting or denying the allegations and must pay a $1.5 million penalty.

    The litigation continues against four executives who led Osiris during the alleged period of accounting fraud from 2014 to 2015: chief executive officer Lode B. Debrabandere, chief financial officers Philip R. Jacoby Jr. and Gregory I. Law, and chief business officer Bobby Dwayne Montgomery. The SEC’s complaint seeks disgorgement of ill-gotten gains plus interest and penalties along with officer-and-director bars.

    The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Laura Ordaz and Anne Romero with assistance from Judy Bizu of the Denver office. The case was supervised by Laura Metcalfe and Kurt Gottschall. The litigation will be led by Danielle Voorhees and supervised by Gregory Kasper. The SEC appreciates the cooperation of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, which filed criminal charges against Jacoby.

    ###
     
  9. anonymous

    anonymous Guest

    CEO resigned, CBO resigned, General Counsel resigned, Chief Legal Officer fired
     
  10. anonymous

    anonymous Guest

    What the F is going on here? Jason is a loser. Who is running our company?
     
  11. Placenta

    Placenta New Member

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    No need to get personal. Do that and lose credibility and any point you are trying to make. Jason is actually a good dude. Now, question his qualifications...that's totally acceptable, would like to know why you say this and learn something. Think this thing is spiraling out of control? Theres way more turnover than you know. Look at the turnover in legal counsel.
     
  12. anonymous

    anonymous Guest

    Company has NDA and will be sold shortly. Forecasters say 4rth quarter. Don’t believe me? Look at turnovers still at headquarters. You are just a rep and blind to the smoke and mirrors. I’m looking right now.