[Source: Health and Life Sciences Law Daily, August 3, 2007]
The AP (8/3, Hoffman) reports, "Physicians and executives are among 18 people accused of selling prescription drugs over the Internet to people without any examinations, according to an indictment unsealed Thursday that charges them with federal racketeering." The 313-count indictment denotes "the first time organized-crime statutes designed to combat drug cartels and mafia rings have been used to charge anyone with selling prescription drugs over the Internet." Costa Rica-based AffPower allegedly "took more than 1 million orders for legal pharmaceuticals including diet pills," and "birth control pills" between "August 2004 and June 2006," and "the total value of the drugs sold exceeds $126 million." The indictment also says that doctors "were paid $3 for each order reviewed," and "approved hundreds or even thousands of orders a day." The prescriptions "were then filled through licensed online and brick-and-mortar pharmacies, who received between $5 and $13 for each order."
