Undaunted by the acquittals of a Lake Forest-based drugmaker’s employees on bribes-for-prescriptions charges, federal prosecutors plan to proceed with the trial of a doctor facing similar allegations.
Prosecutors confirmed they “intend to go forward with the remaining trial against Dr. [John] Romano,” said a spokeswoman with the U.S. attorney’s office in Boston.
The Plymouth, Mass., urologist will be tried on charges he conspired with a sales manager from TAP Pharmaceutical Products Inc. by accepting bribes in exchange for prescribing the company’s prostate cancer drug, Lupron. Prosecutors say the prescriptions came at the expense of government health insurance programs.
Romano was indicted along with 12 current and former TAP sales managers, but his trial was separated from the others earlier this year.
Eight of the 12 were acquitted by a jury last month and two others were acquitted during the trial by U.S. District Judge Douglas Woodlock, in part because of insufficient evidence.
Woodlock is also considering whether to vacate the guilty plea of another former TAP sales manager, Kimberlee Chase, who was indicted the same day as Romano and allegedly conspired with him. According to the indictment, Chase provided Romano with free Lupron samples knowing he would sell them at the expense of his patients or insurers.
Charges against a 12th sales manager were dropped during the trial because of an unexplained health condition.
Federal prosecutors would not comment about the trial, which is scheduled to begin Oct. 18 before Woodlock. Romano’s Boston-based attorney, Bruce Singal, said he had no comment.
The current and former TAP employees were not covered in a settlement the company made with the government in 2001. At that time, TAP pleaded guilty to conspiring with doctors to bill government insurers for free samples of Lupron and paid an industry-record $885 million to settle allegations of wrongdoing.
TAP is a joint venture of North Chicago-based Abbott Laboratories and Takeda Chemical Industries, Japan’s largest drugmaker.
Abbott kidney drug: Abbott Laboratories foresees a $1 billion-a-year sales potential for its kidney drug Zemplar once an oral version is approved.
The drug is used to prevent and treat bone disease caused by calcium deficiencies typically suffered by patients undergoing dialysis.
This week, Abbott submitted an application to the Food and Drug Administration to market Zemplar capsules. The drug’s intravenous formulation, which is already on the market, is projected to generate nearly $400 million in sales this year.
The company believes patients will be able to get treatment earlier in the disease with the drug’s oral form.
More Top Picks Best Baby Bath Tubs For Newborns
“Given the importance of preventing complications associated with chronic kidney disease, a condition that affects an estimated 20 million Americans, Zemplar has the potential to be a billion-dollar opportunity for Abbott,” said company spokeswoman Laureen Cassidy.