AUSA Lindsay Kelly Tells the Story of Gallant Pharma Prosecution at Interchange 2014
The second panel of the day at Interchange 2014, titled “Patient Safety and Criminal Prosecutions in the U.S.” featured federal prosecutors who provided insights into their recent counterfeit and misbranded drug prosecutions. AUSA Lindsay Kelly told the Interchange 2014 audience how Gallant Pharma operated. “Their competitors were the other illegal companies. They [Gallant Pharma] were trying to distinguish themselves in that market by saying ‘we actually have offices here, we can give you everything overnight delivery,’ and they had a sales force that actually set out recruiting doctors as patients, just like the legitimate pharmaceutical companies.”
During a panel discussion on criminal prosecutions and patient safety, Lindsay Kelly, Assistant United States Attorney in the Cybercrime Unit at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, described for the attendees her prosecution of Gallant Pharma International. Gallant Pharma was an unlicensed wholesale pharmaceutical distributor, which until charges were filed, was operating a nationwide distribution ring from an apartment in Virginia.
The second panel of the day at Interchange 2014, titled “Patient Safety and Criminal Prosecutions in the U.S.” featured federal prosecutors who provided insights into their recent counterfeit and misbranded drug prosecutions. AUSA Lindsay Kelly told the Interchange 2014 audience how Gallant Pharma operated. “Their competitors were the other illegal companies. They [Gallant Pharma] were trying to distinguish themselves in that market by saying ‘we actually have offices here, we can give you everything overnight delivery,’ and they had a sales force that actually set out recruiting doctors as patients, just like the legitimate pharmaceutical companies.”
AUSA Kelly also pointed out that Gallant Pharma’s stateside location made prosecution “more appealing” due to ease of access to all their records. She noted that the “apartment where they ran this out of was in Crystal City, right across from the IPR Center.”
The Story of Gallant Pharma International
AUSA Kelly explained that a “strategic decision” was made to delay charges until further investigations were made because; as she said “We wanted to take a bigger approach. We wanted to figure out who are all these sales reps, who are all these doctors, how much money are we talking about, and most importantly, how are they getting all this stuff [pharmaceuticals] into the country. Because we really wanted to make an impact and shut down the supply.”
According to a May 2014 press release from the DEA, the co-owner of Gallant Pharma was sentenced to 3 years in prison. The DEA notes that Gallant Pharma “distributed more than 17,000 units of non-FDA approved cancer and cosmetic drugs to doctors across the United States.”
To watch AUSA Kelly’s presentation in its entirety, click here.