Local Elected Officials Respond to Terrorist Act in Orlando Florida

STATEMENT FROM BOROUGH PRESIDENT DIAZ
RE: Terror Attack in Orlando

"The people of The Bronx stand united with the city of Orlando, the families and friends of the victims, and the LGBTQ community against hatred and bigotry. Today's attack has shocked a nation, and I offer my deepest condolences to those affected by this horrendous act of terrorism. As the motives and the message behind today's terror attack in Orlando come into clearer focus, we must remain united--as Bronxites, as New Yorkers, as Americans--against hatred and terror in all its forms. We must also heed President Obama's call, stated once again during his remarks today, for sensible gun reforms. How much longer can Congress fail to act in the face of tragedy?

Once again, our heart breaks for the victims of this act of terror, and we wish their friends and families peace during this incredibly difficult time," said Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.   

Statement from State Senator Gustavo Rivera on Tragedy in Orlando, Florida

"My thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of those who were tragically killed in today's unspeakable shooting at Orlando's Pulse Nightclub. I want to take this opportunity to express my unconditional support to the LGBTQIA community during this difficult time.

As we try come to terms with yet another heart wrenching tragedy, we must come together and send a clear message that hate and gun violence has no place in our communities, our cities and our states. We cannot allow for this to become our new normal. We have a responsibility to those whose lives were ended and to those whose lives will be forever affected by gun violence to act and demand the implementation of stronger gun control laws through effective legislative action." 

STATEMENT BY COUNCIL MEMBER JUMAANE WILLIAMS:

 

"We are here again. And honestly, we know we will be here once more, very soon. 

"First, sincere prayers of peace and comfort to the family and friends of the victims, and the Orlando community.

"As we stand with the LGBTQ community across the country, and the family and fans of Christina Grimmie, we also stand with Jessica White, a mother killed this weekend, right here in New York City, protecting her children. 

"Second, well wishes and prayers will not help the 90 people statistically expected to die by a gun tomorrow, nor will it help the victims of the next mass shooting -- we've already had 133 this year alone. So to those victims, the same words without action is hollow.

"We can't sit back and simply attribute gun violence to thugs, terrorists,  or gangster music. 

"Even hate without a gun looks drastically different. But we better realize it's the American-specific penchant for violence and almost unfettered access to guns that is the problem. 

"We have to see that the leadership of the NRA continues to do the devil's work, disguised as protecting Second Amendment rights. They do this even though so many of their members understand the difference between their rights and this insanity. They do it because many Congressmen and women value their seat above horrific American deaths -- even as we now grapple with the largest mass shooting in American history. In the back of our minds, we know it's only a matter time before this record is surpassed.

"Until we are ready for action, lets copy our prayers, and well wishes, and get ready to paste them in the next expression of  condolence to the next victims and family we know are coming, tomorrow, and the day after."

Assemblymember Michael Blake's Statement Following Deadly Orlando Shooting and Hate Crime

At least 50 Dead. 53 Injured. Horrific tragedy beyond words.

My thoughts, prayers and hopes for strength for the loved ones lost in Orlando, their families and anyone impacted by this morning's hate crime and terrorist attack.

Loved ones won't go home today because of a coward who took their lives.  Dreams lost and joy deferred because of bullets, anger and hate.

There are no adequate words for the families who lost loved ones in Orlando early this morning at the Pulse nightclub. I have and will continue pray for the strength of the families of loved ones, healing for those in the hospital and protection for all of us.

This hate crime was one against the LGBTQ community.  NO ONE should lose their life because of their sexual orientation, faith, gender, ethnicity or any personal background.  Moreover, do not attack the Islamic faith due to one person's actions as one human doesn't represent a religion.

We should say sorry to the people of Orlando and all communities who have lost their lives due to gun violence and another mass shooting.  Enough is enough.  When will Congressional Republicans, Governors and state legislators across the country stand up and ban assault rifles?  Make note of every person who tries to cowardly blame religion or beliefs to justify this behavior rather than getting these assault rifles and guns off of the street.

Let us continue to pray for healing of those in the hospitals, support the medical staff and families and promote healing of our society and world.

Assemblymember Pichardo: Now is the time for action

          “The deadly mass shooting that took place in an Orlando nightclub is heartbreaking and needs more than thoughts and prayers – it requires action. This was an act of terror and hate that could have been prevented and it occurred in what should have been a safe space - as President Obama noted, a place of solidarity and empowerment for the LGBT community.

         “It is disgraceful, shameful and disrespectful that the U.S. Congress refuses to curve unfettered access to firearms. I ask: how many more American lives must be lost? How many more families must continue to suffer before Congress acts? There is a way to balance second amendment rights with sensible gun control legislation and the time to do so is now.”

Statement by Community Leader and Candidate for the NYS Assembly, 78th District

My thoughts and prayers are with those impacted by the tragic hate crime that has taken place. It is our duty as a community to stand in solidarity for Orlando and the LGBTQ youth.

These brutal attacks taking place in our nation show that, as a society, we are neglecting to acknowledge that violence in all forms, cannot, have not, and will not solve problems. While the mass shooting of LGBTQ youth took place in Orlando, Florida, this heartache is something we know all too well, here in the Bronx.

As we extend our love and empathy to those impacted by this tragic event, we must also remember local Bronx resident, Jessica White, mother of three who was gunned down this weekend in an attempt to protect her children from the reoccurring gun violence that takes place in her housing project.

Guns have been the cornerstone of violence in the United States for generations. It’s said that the Orlando shooter purchased his weaponry at his local Walmart. While it is unclear where the Bronx shooter obtained his firearm, it is important to note that “more than half a million firearms are stolen each year in the United States and more than half of stolen firearms are handguns, many of which are subsequently sold illegally,” according to the Law Center for Gun Violence.

My heart is heavy for those who suffer daily because of gun violence, however, I refuse to let this pain silence me and my district. We are strong. We are brave. We must harbor our adversities and allow them to motivate us to seek and advocate for change. This change isn’t just for Orlando, it’s for us, it’s for our kids—it’s for our home. It is our duty to make our voices heard. In the face of hate and violence, we will allow our love to uplift those who have been broken and empower those who have been silenced.

Our advocacy is needed to restrict gun sales to terrorists and halt the trafficking of guns that end up in our neighborhoods and our homes. Today, as a nation, we grieve the deaths of dozens of innocent people. The Bronx stands in solidarity with Orlando. #BravoForOrlando

       

Ischia Bravo Opens 78 A.D. Campaign Office on Kingsbridge Road

  Pictured above is  78th A.D. assembly candidate Ischia Bravo standing outside her new campaign office located at 14 E. Kingsbridge Road. This is a small office, but is large enough to get assembly candidate Bravo's message out to the people of the 78th A.D. That message is 'It is time to elect someone who will represent  the assembly district, and not just take videos'. Ischia went to the public schools in the district, is raising two boys, and wants to represent the assembly district she grew up in the way it should be represented in Albany. 

  Ischia Bravo is not a newcomer to politics. She has had several positions with different elected officials, and is well respected by all of them. Ms. Bravo also served as the Executive Director of the Bronx Democratic County Committee so she knows what has to be done to make the 78th Assembly district better. Ischia says that she wants to run a positive campaign, but point out the weaknesses of her opponent the current elected assemblyman in the district. 

  The current Assemblyman, a former county leader has not really faced an opponent like Ms. Bravo in over ten years. The last two challengers were from the north part of the assembly district, however Ischia Bravo lives in the middle of the assembly district drawing strength from all parts of the district. 

  Four years ago I said that the race to watch was the 80th Assembly district. I was the only political reporter who called the race in favor of the challenger Mark Gjonaj, who won the seat from incumbent Naomi Rivera. This year I say the 78th A.D. race is the one to watch. While it is way to early to predict a winner, this is going to be a very similar contest. Right now if you ask me I think that another Rivera may be defeated, and you will find out why as the campaign draws to a close on primary day. 

Join Mayor DeBlasio for Bronx Fundraiser

Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman - Holding Broadband Companies Accountable for Quality Internet Service

Attorney General Schneiderman sent a letter to Charter Communications this week, the company that recently acquired Time Warner Cable, urging them to honor Time Warner’s prior commitments regarding high-speed internet for its customers. Since the Attorney General launched his investigation into broadband speeds in October of 2015, he has determined that Time Warner Cable misled customers on the speed and reliability of its Internet service. In his letter, he urges Charter to take advantage of this opportunity to provide quality Internet service New Yorkers deserve.  

Fighting Housing Discrimination

On Tuesday, Attorney General Schneiderman joined Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez in support of her proposed Landlord Accountability Act, which aims to end landlord discrimination against tenants with Section 8 housing vouchers. Along with members of the City Council and tenants who have suffered from Section 8 discrimination, the Attorney General vowed to continue protecting citizens who seek affordable and quality housing. Since 2011, the Attorney General has forced six real estate brokerage firms and two landlords to comply with local anti-discrimination laws and end discrimination against Section 8 housing vouchers.  

Protecting Tenants Rights From Real Estate Developer Violations

The Attorney General reached a settlement with a Manhattan developer, 165 West 91st Street Holdings, LLC, for illegally buying out rent-stabilized tenants. An investigation by the Attorney General’s office revealed that the developer illegally bought out two of its tenants’ rent-stabilized units and then attempted to conceal the fraudulent transaction. The developer will pay $540,000 in penalties – $490,000 of which will go to the New York City Affordable Housing Fund. 

Honoring the LGBT Community During Pride Month

Over the past few years, the Attorney General has worked hard to ensure equality for all LGBT New Yorkers, leading to a variety of victories on behalf of these communities. In honor of Pride Month, the Attorney General urged members of the LGBT community to know their rights and reminded New Yorkers that they do not tolerate discrimination on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation.

Have a question, comment, or complaint? Click here. You can also learn more about the various initiatives of the Attorney General's office by visiting our website atag.ny.gov. You can also call our General Hotline: 800-771-7755. 

Ethical Cultural Fieldston School Addition to School

   Pictured above is the Ethical Cultural Fieldston School lower school where the school wants to expand the fourth floor (the fenced in area on the roof) for additional classroom space. 

   Representatives of the school came to last Thursday's Community Board 8 Land Use Committee meeting to inform the community board how the school is going to expand the Lower School Building roof for more classroom space.

    The Community Board was told the construction was as of right, and that it would take about three days for steel to be hoisted by a crane from flatbed trucks on Greystone Avenue to the roof of the building. The board was also told that the school has no other way to get the steel up to the roof, and has already met with neighbors to discuss what the parking situation might be. Neighbors have been offered an equal amount of parking spaces lost in a school parking lot. 

    I wanted to know how the large trucks would get to the construction site. I was told from Broadway up Manhattan College Parkway to Greystone Avenue, but then another person from the school said that the large trucks would come up the Riverdale Avenue hill to Greystone Avenue. 

    As you will see in the photos below that the school has other problems with the retaining wall which spans around most of the school.

Above - The retaining wall on Greystone Avenue not far from the lower school shows cracks, and discoloration as well as plant growth in the wall.

Below is a photo of the retaining wall at the corner of Riverdale Avenue and West 238th Street. The cracks here in the wall are so huge that a temporary barrier had to be put up last year.

It appears that the concrete barriers have shifted to create a hazardous condition where people walking by can be hurt by the bulging concrete at the corner of Riverdale Avenue and West 238th Street.

Motel Homeless Shelter Discussed at CB 8 Land Use Meeting

     On the agenda of the June 9th Community Board 8 Land Use Committee meeting was an item titled 'Human Resources Administration - Placement of housing facility for homeless persons at Van Cortlandt Motel 6393 Broadway.

      Matt Borden the Assistant Commissioner of Governmental Relations, and Louis Molina the Senior Advisor for the Department of Homeless addressed the Community Board 8 Land Use Committee, State Senator Jeff Klein, Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, Councilman Andrew Cohen, and the almost 100 people in the audience of the meeting on the status of the Van Cortlandt Motel homeless shelter. 

    It seems that as many as three people are placed in a motel room with little supervision. The only way the community found out about this new homeless shelter was because there was an incident with one of the people the city placed in the motel. Even the 50th Police Precinct was never notified that a homeless shelter was placed at the motel. There were many questions thrown at the two city representatives, and one woman complained that the quality of life is deteriorating even more on Broadway.

     State Senator Jeff Klein spoke for a while saying this was the third time that a homeless shelter had popped up in his district. He said that while the senate passed legislation that he wrote to have community boards be notified of new homeless shelter sites the legislation died in the state assembly. Klein said that he was going to draft new legislation that would address the issue, ad be able to satisfy those in the assembly who voted against the first bill. The conclusion was that Councilman Cohen said that the  commissioner of Homeless told him that the site would be reviewed by September, and that it should be gone by then.  

Representatives for the city address the audience. Also in the photo seated is Community Board 8 Land Use Chair Charles Moerdler (left), and Community Board 8 Chairman Daniel Padernacht (right).

State Senator Jeff Klein responds to what he heard from the city representatives who look on from the side. Also in the photo seated is Community Board 8 District Manager Patricia Manning (far right).

As they are always ready to serve their communities are Councilman Andrew Cohen, State Senator Jeff Klein, and Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney - $54 Million Settlement Against Salix Pharmaceuticals For Using “Speaker Programs” As Mechanism To Pay Illegal Kickbacks To Doctors To Prescribe Salix Products

Salix Admits to Paying Doctors to Serve as “Speakers” at Programs that Were Primarily Social in Nature and Where the “Speakers” Spent Little or No Time Discussing the Relevant Salix Product

Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Scott J. Lampert, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General’s New York Region (“HHS-OIG”), and Diego Rodriguez, Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced today a $54 million settlement in a civil fraud lawsuit against SALIX PHARMACEUTICALS, INC. (“SALIX”), a specialty pharmaceutical company based in Raleigh, North Carolina, that sells products used to treat various gastroenterology conditions.  The settlement resolves claims that SALIX violated the federal Anti-Kickback Statute and False Claims Act by using its “speaker programs” as a mechanism to pay kickbacks to doctors to induce them to prescribe SALIX drugs and medical devices that were reimbursed by federal health care programs.  Specifically, the United States’ Complaint-in-Intervention alleges that SALIX held sham speaker programs, frequently at high-end restaurants, where doctors were paid substantial honoraria purportedly to educate other doctors about a Salix product, but in reality spent little or no time discussing the product.  The settlement will also resolve numerous state law civil fraud claims.

Today, U.S. District Court Judge Denise L. Cote approved a settlement stipulation to resolve the Government’s claims against SALIX.  Under the settlement, SALIX is required to pay approximately $46.53 million to the United States and has made extensive admissions regarding its conduct.  Further, as part of the settlement, SALIX will pay approximately $7.47 million to resolve the state law civil fraud claims. 

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said:  “For years, Salix Pharmaceuticals unlawfully sought to increase prescriptions of its products by using its ‘speaker programs’ as a vehicle to pay kickbacks to doctors.  Through these ‘speaker programs,’ which were frequently nothing more than social gatherings with little or no educational component, Salix found a way to pay doctors money and treated them to fancy meals to push their drugs.  With today’s settlement, Salix has taken responsibility for its conduct and agreed to pay a significant financial penalty.  This action and settlement is part of our continuing effort to pursue health care providers who put their profits ahead of patient safety.” 

HHS-OIG Special Agent in Charge Scott J. Lampert said: “When Salix Pharmaceuticals paid doctors large sums of money to speak at programs that were primarily social events, the goal was to induce the doctors to prescribe Salix products and enhance the company’s bottom line.  We will continue to investigate such illegal arrangements that undermine impartial medical judgment and place company interests above those of patients.”

FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Diego Rodriguez said: “Salix used high priced meals at swanky restaurants to get doctors to push its products.  Whether those doctors actually prescribed those medications, the simple idea behind the pitch eats away at the faith patients have in their doctors to put their health and wellbeing above the interests of a corporation.  The FBI and our partners will do all that we can to keep these practices from doing more harm than good.”

As alleged in the Complaint-in-Intervention filed in Manhattan federal court:

During the period January 2009 through December 2013 (the “Covered Period”), many of SALIX’s speaker programs for Xifaxan, Apriso, Relistor, MoviPrep, OsmoPrep, Solesta, and Deflux (the “Covered Products”) were nothing more than social events at which SALIX wined and dined doctors to induce them to write prescriptions for these products.  These speaker programs included both in-person events (at which both the speaker and the attendees were present in person and the speaker was paid to provide an educational talk on a Covered Product to the attendees using a slide presentation), as well as pre-recorded events (at which a SALIX employee was supposed to use a laptop or other device to play for the attendees a pre-recorded video of a doctor delivering a slide presentation, and then call the paid speaker, who was to be available to answer any questions by telephone). 

The speaker programs, which were typically held in restaurants, were supposed to be educational in nature and the cost of the meal was supposed to be modest.  But in practice, SALIX held many speaker programs that were primarily social in nature, including events where it repeatedly invited the same doctors, who frequently were from the same practice or otherwise knew each other, to attend the same exact program on the same exact topic.  With respect to the pre-recorded programs – which SALIX personnel internally referred to as “doc-in-the-box programs” – the pre-recorded video frequently was not played or was intentionally played in a manner so it could be ignored.  SALIX also held many speaker programs at very expensive, high-end restaurants.

The doctors whom SALIX paid to be speakers and whom SALIX invited to its events were often the high prescribers of its products or were viewed as having the potential to be high prescribers.  Many of these doctors increased their prescription-writing for the Covered Products after becoming speakers and/or repeatedly attending sham speaker programs.  During the Covered Period, SALIX spent approximately $25 million on speaker payments and meals.

As part of the settlement, SALIX admitted, acknowledged, and accepted responsibility for the following conduct:

• Throughout the Covered Period, speaker programs were an important part of SALIX’s strategy for increasing sales of the Covered Products.SALIX conducted approximately 10,000 speaker programs for the Covered Products, including approximately 8,000 programs alone for Xifaxan, Apriso, and Relistor. 
• Speaker honoraria payments for a program ranged from $250 (for a doctor available on call to answer questions associated with a pre-recorded program) to $4,500 (for a doctor who spoke at an in-person program and had a specified level of experience and certain credentials).During the Covered Period, SALIX paid over 500 physicians honoraria for serving as speakers on the Covered Products, with dozens of physicians earning more than $50,000, and several earning more than $100,000. 
• Throughout the Covered Period, SALIX did not have effective mechanisms in place to monitor adequately its speaker programs to ensure compliance with internal policies. For example, there were no effective mechanisms in place to audit speaker programs and insufficient efforts were made to review data and other information on speaker programs to ensure compliance with the company’s internal policies.

• Throughout the Covered Period, numerous SALIX employees held speaker programs for the Covered Products that were primarily social in nature and/or otherwise did not comply with the company’s internal policies.For example, there were programs where: 
  • the designated speaker spent little or no time discussing the Covered Product; 
  • the required slide presentation was not shown in its entirety or not at all; 
  • doctors attended multiple programs on the same topic (at which the same slide presentation was supposed to have been shown) within a short period of time; 
  • the programs were held in the main dining rooms of restaurants or other locations that were not conducive to an educational program; 
  • the programs were held at high-end restaurants (such as Nobu and Le Bernardin in New York City), with per-person costs exceeding $200 and even $300;
  • the SALIX sales representative responsible for a program reported that certain physicians had attended the event even though they had not, in order to make the per-person cost of the event appear lower than it actually was;
  • attendees included individuals other than healthcare professionals with a legitimate interest in the scheduled topic, such as a physician’s spouse; and/or 
  • the programs were used as an opportunity to provide a physician’s practice (in some cases including administrative staff) with a meal or a happy hour. 
• Additionally, with respect to the pre-recorded speaker programs, there were numerous instances where:(1) the SALIX sales representative did not play the pre-recorded presentation; (2) the SALIX sales representative played the pre-recorded presentation but placed the laptop or other viewing device in a location where it could not readily be seen or at a volume at which it could not readily be heard; and/or (3) the designated approved speaker was not called at the end of the pre-recorded presentation but still received an honorarium payment. 

In connection with the filing of the lawsuit and settlement, the Government joined two private whistleblower lawsuits that had previously been filed under seal pursuant to the False Claims Act.

Former Pharmaceutical Company Employees Arrested For Participating In Fentanyl Kickback Scheme

Pharmaceutical Sales Representatives And Managers Paid Thousands Of Dollars To Doctors In Exchange For Prescribing Of Millions Of Dollars’ Worth Of Fentanyl

Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Diego Rodriguez, Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), and Scott Lampert, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General’s (“HHS-OIG”) New York Region, announced that JONATHAN ROPER, a former District Manager at a pharmaceutical company (“Pharma Company-1”), and FERNANDO SERRANO, a former sales representative at Pharma Company-1, were charged today with violating the Anti-Kickback Statute in connection with their participation in a scheme to pay doctors thousands of dollars to participate in sham educational programs in order to induce the doctors to prescribe millions of dollars’ worth of a fentanyl-based sublingual spray manufactured by Pharma Company-1 (the “Fentanyl Spray”).  ROPER was arrested this morning by FBI agents on Long Island, and SERRANO was arrested this morning by FBI agents in New Jersey.  They will be presented before U.S. Magistrate Judge Kevin N. Fox in Manhattan this afternoon.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “Fentanyl is an incredibly dangerous and highly addictive drug that is finding its way into, and destroying, too many lives in our communities.  Because of its deadly power, its legitimate prescription faces significant and severe restrictions.  Yet, as alleged, former drug company employees Jonathan Roper and Fernando Serrano corruptly induced doctors to prescribe millions of dollars’ worth of Fentanyl through thousands of dollars in kickbacks disguised as phony educational programs.  As alleged, Roper and Serrano helped feed this devastating surge of opioid addictions by tapping into another age-old addiction, greed.”

FBI Assistant Director Diego Rodriguez said: “This case should be something the medical industry and the general public should pay close attention to because it’s one of the reasons we’re experiencing an epidemic of overdoses and deaths in this country.  Not only did the defendants in this case allegedly bully sales reps into pushing this highly addictive drug, they paid doctors to prescribe it to patients.  The more prescriptions written, the more money the doctors made.  Instead of seeing a way to help people who are dealing with extreme pain, they allegedly saw a huge payday that potentially put people’s lives in danger.”

HHS OIG Special Agent in Charge Scott J. Lampert said: “We expect drug company representatives to be part of the prescription drug abuse solution – not part of the problem, as alleged in this case.  We will continue to investigate kickback arrangements, which can undermine impartial medical decision-making and worsen the overuse of opioids in this country.”

According to allegations in the Complaints unsealed today in Manhattan federal court:[1] 

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is classified as a Schedule II controlled substance and is approximately 100 times more potent than morphine as an analgesic.  Because of the risk of misuse, abuse, and addiction associated with prescription products like the Fentanyl Spray, only doctors who have enrolled in a mandated U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) program and completed necessary training are permitted to prescribe the Fentanyl Spray. 

Pharma Company-1’s Fentanyl Spray was approved by the FDA in or about January 2012, solely for the management of breakthrough pain in cancer patients who are already receiving and who are tolerant to opioid therapy for their underlying persistent pain.  The Fentanyl Spray is the only FDA-approved product that Pharma Company-1 currently has on the market.  Pharma Company-1 reported approximately $330 million in net revenue from the Fentanyl Spray in 2015. 

In order to market the Fentanyl Spray, Pharma Company-1 established a program purportedly to educate healthcare professionals about the Fentanyl Spray (the “Speaker Program”).  Doctors selected as speakers at these Speaker Programs by Pharma Company-1 (“Speakers”) were compensated for purportedly providing educational presentations to a peer-level audience of healthcare professionals using a preapproved PowerPoint presentation.  In reality, however, many of the Speaker Programs that ROPER and SERRANO organized and attended were predominantly social gatherings at high-end restaurants in Manhattan that involved no education regarding the Fentanyl Spray and no slide presentation at all.  Many of the Speaker Programs also lacked an appropriate audience of healthcare professionals.  In order to make these Speaker Programs appear legitimate, sign-in sheets for these Speaker Programs – including Speaker Programs organized by ROPER and SERRANO – were frequently forged by adding the names and signatures of doctors to sign-in sheets who had not, in fact, been present at the Speaker Program.  Repeat attendees were also commonplace at Speaker Programs organized by SERRANO.  In numerous instances, all of the attendees at Speaker Programs organized by SERRANO had previously attended Pharma Company-1 Speaker Programs.  Because all legitimate Speaker Programs required use of the same preapproved slide presentation, there was no educational purpose for healthcare professionals to attend Speaker Programs on a repeated basis.

While employed at Pharma Company-1, ROPER and SERRANO were each involved in organizing Speaker Programs for two Manhattan-based doctors (“Doctor-1” and “Doctor-2”), among other doctors.  Doctor-1 and Doctor-2 were frequently the purported Speakers at sham Speaker Programs that were social in nature and lacked an educational component.  Doctor-1 and Doctor-2 were highly compensated by Pharma Company-1 for acting as Speakers.  In 2014 alone, Doctor-1 and Doctor-2 received over $147,000 and $112,000, respectively, in Speaker Program fees.  During this same time period, Doctor-1 and Doctor-2 were also two of the largest prescribers of the Fentanyl Spray in the United States.  In 2014 alone, Doctor-1 and Doctor-2 prescribed, respectively, over $3 million and over $2 million worth of the Fentanyl Spray that was reimbursed by various private insurance companies, and over $1 million worth of the Fentanyl Spray that was reimbursed by Medicare.

It was well understood among Pharma Company-1 employees that doctors were selected as Speakers in order to induce these doctors to prescribe large quantities of the Fentanyl Spray, and ROPER explicitly instructed the sales force he supervised that this was the case.  For example, on or about May 6, 2014, ROPER sent an email to certain sales representatives in which he expressed displeasure that certain doctors who were Speakers were not prescribing sufficient quantities of the Fentanyl Spray:   

Where is the ROI [Return on Investment]??!!! All prescribers from this team that are on this list are [Pharma Company-1] speakers. We invest a lot of time, $, blood, sweat, and tears on “our guys” and help spreading the word on treating BTCP [breakthrough cancer pain]. We hire only the best of the best to be apart [sic] of our speaker bureau and dropping script counts is what we get in return?

This is a slap in the face to all of you and is a good indication as to why NONE of you are climbing in the rankings this quarter. DO NOT be afraid to set your expectations and make them crystal clear as to what they are before, during, and after HIRING these priviliged [sic] set of docs who are fortunate enough to be a part of the best speaker bureau in the market in the world of BTCP [breakthrough cancer pain]. Please handle this immediately as funding will not be given out to anymore [sic] “let downs” in the future. Thanks.                                                                                                                

ROPER decided which doctors would be allocated Speaker Programs in the sales territory that included New York City.  ROPER instructed one sales representative that a Speaker would receive fewer Speaker Programs in the future because ROPER was not pleased with the quantity of Fentanyl Spray prescriptions this doctor was writing.  ROPER informed the sales representative that he wanted to hit the doctor “in his pocket” in order to try to cause the doctor to start writing more Fentanyl Spray prescriptions.  ROPER also once instructed this same sales representative to offer cash to a medical professional in order to induce this medical professional to prescribe the Fentanyl Spray.            

ROPER, 37, of Commack, New York, and SERRANO, 30, of Manalapan, New Jersey, are each charged with one count of conspiracy to violate the Anti-Kickback Statute and one count of violating the Anti-Kickback Statute.  Each of the two counts carries a maximum term of five years in prison.  The maximum potential sentences are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendants will be determined by the judge.

The charges contained in the Complaints are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.