Lodi oncologist and Wife Pay $300,000 to Settle False Claims Act Charges Pertaining to Fake Cancer Drug Purchases
Dr. John F. Kiraly and Rena Kiraly (Kiraly’s wife and office manager) agreed to a $300,000 settlement to settle allegations that they improperly billed Medicare for certain chemotherapy drugs purchased from unlicensed foreign pharmaceutical distributor, Richards Pharma.
Who: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, the FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, and the Defense Health Agency.
When: May 9, 2016, October 2010 – May 2011.
Where: Lodi, California.
How: Investigation by FDA-OCI
Additional details: One drug the Kiralys purchased from Richards Pharma was Altuzan, the foreign version of the approved cancer medication Avastin. The FDA tested a batch of Altuzan that the Kiralys had purchased from Richards Pharma and determined that it lacked active ingredient bevacizumab, and was in fact counterfeit.
Related sources:
“Lodi Oncologist and Office Administrator Pay $300,000 to Settle False Claims Act Allegations,” DOJ, May 9, 2016
“Lodi oncologist, wife pay $300,000 to settle chemo drug claim,” Sacramento Bee, May 9, 2013