Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2005. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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Wall Street Journal - April 14, 2005
Rachel Zimmerman, rachel.zimmerman@wsj.com
The U.S. Attorney here announced the criminal conspiracy charges against former sales and marketing executives, John Bruens, 48 years old, of San Diego; Mary Stewart, 44, of North Andover, Mass; Melissa Vaughn, 43, of Louisville, Colorado; and Marc Sirockman, 41, of Flemington, N.J.
According to the indictment, the executives allegedly offered all-expenses paid trips to doctors and their guests to attend a medical conference in Cannes, France in 1999 in exchange for writing prescriptions for the AIDS-wasting drug, Serostim, marketed by Serono's Swiss parent-company Ares-Serono SA. Each prescription was to be written for 12 weeks of treatment, according to the indictment. In total, the prescriptions were valued at about $630,000. The indictment alleges that Serostim came on the market at the same time as newer drugs called protease inhibitors were introduced. These newer medications triggered a decrease in demand for Serostim, the indictment says.
In December, the U.S. Attorney here brought criminal charges against another executive, former Serono sales director, Adam Stupak, 40, of Hewlett, N.Y.
The federal investigation is continuing.
Renee Connolly, a spokesperson for Serono, based in Rockland, Mass. said the company wouldn't comment on the individual cases but said it is cooperating with the investigation.
Those named in the indictment couldn't be reached immediately.
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