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Oncologist Vincent Koh, 73, and his wife and office manager Milly Koh, 64, drew fines of $7,500 and $3,000, for receiving and delivering misbranded drugs, after pleading guilty in November, the Justice Department said.
From July 2010 through March 2012, the Kohs ordered various discount oncology drugs from foreign sources that Vincent Koh prescribed and administered to patients. The drugs had not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for distribution or use in the United States, the Justice Department said.
The drugs were considered "misbranded," and thus illegal to prescribe to patients, the department said.
Vincent Koh and Milly Koh admitted that they regularly ordered and delivered to patients a prescription drug labeled “Mabthera.” Generally, Mabthera contains rituximab, the same active ingredient found in the FDA-approved drug legally used and marketed in the United States as Rituxan.
However, the drug ordered by Vincent Koh and Milly Koh came from an unapproved, foreign source, and its label did not bear adequate directions for use and other information required by the FDA, the Justice Department said.
In February, the Kohs agreed to pay $500,000 for violating the False Claims Act by knowingly submitting false claims to Medicare for unapproved chemotherapy drugs.
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