Drug Company Sales Rep Admits Role In Fentanyl Kickback Scheme

JAMESTOWN, RI — A kickback scheme allegedly motivated health practitioners, including one Rhode Island doctor, to prescribe a fentanyl-based painkiller for cancer patients. According to Deirdre M. Daly, U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut, one of the drug companies sales rep now has admitted to participating in the scheme, which defrauded federal healthcare programs.

Natalie Levine, 33, of Scottsdale, Arizona, pleaded guilty earlier this week to paying off one Rhode Island doctor and other health practitioners in her sales territory. She worked for Insys Therapeutics, based in Arizona, between March 2013 and Octover 2014 and was the sales rep for Rhode Island, Connecticut and New Hampshire. The company manufactured and sold Subsys, "a fentanyl-based sublingual spray that was approved by the Food and Drug Administration solely for the management of breakthrough pain in cancer patients," Daly's office said. Its use was limited to cancer patients because Fentanyl is highly addictive and has been linked to the nation's opioid epidemic.

"In pleading guilty, Levine admitted that she induced certain medical practitioners, including an advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) in Connecticut, a physician’s assistant (PA) in New Hampshire, and a physician in Rhode Island, to prescribe Subsys by paying them to participate in hundreds of sham 'Speaker Programs,'" Daly said.

The Rhode Island doctor, Jerrold N. Rosenberg, 62, of North Providence and Jamestown, was charged in February with 19 counts of soliciting or accepting kickbacks. He allegedly was one of the medical practitioners paid thousands of dollars in illegal kickbacks in order to prescribe Subsys, and induce others to prescribe Subsys, over similar medications. Medicare Part D plans authorized payment for hundreds of Subsys prescriptions written by the three medical practitioners, resulting in a loss of approximately $4.5 million.

"The Speaker Programs, which were typically held at high-end restaurants, were ostensibly designed to gather licensed healthcare professionals who had the capacity to prescribe Subsys and educate them about the drug," said the U.S. Attorney's Office in Connecticut. "In truth, the events were usually just a gathering of friends and co-workers, most of whom did not have the ability to prescribe Subsys, and no educational component took place. 'Speakers' were paid a fee that ranged from $1,000 to several thousand dollars for attending these dinners. At times, the sign-in sheets for the Speaker Programs were forged so as to make it appear that the programs had an appropriate audience of healthcare professionals."

Levine pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the anti-kickback law, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of five years and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 5.

Image via Shutterstock