Connecticut Senator Calls for State Medical Board Intervention in Cases Where Doctors Bought Misbranded Drugs from Gallant Pharma

Although 5 doctors in Connecticut and 256 doctors nationwide have received FDA warning letters concerning purchases of non-FDA approved medication from the now-defunct medicine wholesaler Gallant Pharma International, no state medical boards have investigated any of their practices. Now Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut is calling for the FDA to provide these names to state medical boards for enforcement.

In 2015, the FDA warned 256 doctors all over the United States that they may have purchased non-FDA approved medication from the clandestine medication wholesaler, Gallant Pharma International. At the time, the FDA noted, “Several individuals associated with Gallant, including a doctor and and office manager, have been convicted for their roles in distributing illegal drugs and devices.”

Now U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal is calling for action against these medical practices, reports the Connecticut Health I-Team of the Institute of Non Profit News (C-HIT). Blumenthal recommends that the FDA to refer their investigative results on Gallant Pharma to state medical boards that have “licensing oversight over physicians.”

Tom Kubic, PSM board member, and President of the Pharmaceutical Security Institute told C-HIT that “Although there have been some enforcement operations, we haven’t seen a decrease in unapproved and counterfeit drugs. Criminals are making billions of dollars from counterfeits.”

Gallant Pharma was headquartered in Washington D.C. and used its domestic address as a screen to mask the foreign sources for the medication they sold. All told 12 individuals, including the company founders, salespeople and office staff, were prosecuted for running the illegal wholesale pharmaceutical business.
By S. Imber