Sunday, November 17, 2013

More on Orphan Drug Profiteering

How a drug for few patients was turned into $81 million in sales
But when the November 2001 bulletin was published, its listing for Trisenox included a mistake. The bulletin made it appear that Trisenox was medically accepted for four diseases, instead of just one. Subsequent issues added three more diseases, leaving the false impression that Trisenox was accepted and reimbursable for seven diseases in all.
Marchese understood that a mistake in the bulletin could lead states to reimburse for unaccepted uses. He emailed the company’s sales director: “How pretty are those Compendia bulletins!!! … [M]an do I like working the system. I figure even if 1 state doesn’t check its [sic] a bonus!!”
To which the director responded: “[E]ven if it works in one state, it’s a HUGE win! … Getting rich is a very good thing and it can’t happen soon enough!”
Part 1 is here