Vietnam Fines Schering-Plough For Kickbacks
11 CommentsBy Ed Silverman // March 31st, 2010 // 6:54 am
Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has ordered the Ministry of Health to impose penalties on the drugmaker and several Ho Chi Minh City docs who took kickbacks of up to $26,300 a month in exchange for promoting two drugs that treat viral hepatitis, The Saigon GP Daily reports.
Phan Chien Thang, deputy director of Medical University Hospital, said one staff doctor, Truong Ba Trung, is temporarily suspended from his clinical and teaching work for his reported involvement in the case. In addition, the hospital has terminated a contract with another doc, Dinh Da Ly Huong, for allegedly taking kickbacks, the web site reports.
The hospital’s co-deputy director, Nguyen Hoang Bac, said he ordered the facility’s Pharmaceutical Faculty to investigate all prescriptions written recently, especially those for Peg-Intron 50 mdg and Peg-Intron 80 mcg used to treat liver disease. It would then be decided if doctors had prescribed the med inappropriately in order to receive commissions. Meanwhile, Nguyen Duc Tuan, another doc, was suspended after rumors surfaced that he worked as a Schering-Plough marketing director.
After the merger between Merck and Schering-Plough, Ton That Luong Nguyen was appointed chief representative in Vietnam, and he reportedly secured a high commission for doctors of 10 percent to30 percent of the cost of the drugs if they prescribed Pegintron 50 mcg and Pegintron 80 mcg for patients, the site writes. The monthly sales of the two drugs in Vietnam is about $315,000, and Nguyen urnover in Vietnam of the two types of drugs is around VND6 billion (US$ 315,000). Mr. Nguyen allegedly got about $52,000 a month after taking a percentage of the commission made by the doctors.
Condor
Synchronicity!
I saw it overnight — you, this morning, early.
Cool.
On substance, now: this is deeply disconcerting — and when the inevitable “other shoe” drops, I’ll blog it — right there. Once again, we’ve seen that Mr. Hassan sold some sows’ ears, as silk purses. And Mr. Clark bought them — paying silk-purse prices.
[In addition, feel free to use the graphics, too, Ed -- I have made them entirely public domain/free for use, and reuse.]
Namaste
harpy
If doctors are considered government employees they better be hopping on the self-disclosure for FCPA violations.
Condor
Quite so, Harpy — but if (as I strongly suspect) they are government employees, of the Socialist regime in Vietnam, they should be worried about LOCAL prosecution — which could entail long stints of VERY “hard time”.
Perhaps, because Vietnam needs its doctors desperately (a severe shortage, there) — they will avoid being locked up — but they may have to work essentially “for free,” for a period of years.
Namaste — Good point!
harpy
ah, I wasn’t really thinking about the doctors but of Schering-Plough - and beyond the penalties the Vietnamese government might impose. the DoJ is very keen on FCPA violations right now and someone in the States must’ve known of this marketing tactic.
Condor
Got it — I follow you, now. Great point! In my update post, this morning — one that has additional Vietnamese papers now fleshing out details — I’ve credited you, by name –twice in the paragraph below the Vietnamese paper’s pull-quote.
You are right — someone in old Kenilworth knew.
It is being reported now that it was known to be a longstanding practice, in Vietnam — by the health ministry.
The FCPA’s long-arm could even reach Fast Freddie.
Namaste
Reality Bites
It appears that the tip of the iceberg is emerging! And I think it’s only a very small tip of a very big iceberg that was once SP! And I think that iceberg may be made out of blackened snow! The major question is if the former executive team, now moving onto new very lucrative jobs, will ever be held responsible for the actions. In the great corporate USA, probably not. They have too many friends in very high places.
Condor
Indeed. We can only hope that, now, after at least the fourth time, someone decides to hold Hassan & Co. accountable.
And still more details emerge — now three separate sources have it as a longer-term, ongoing problem, in and around Sàigòn.
This is very-likely going to be an Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (read: criminal) violation, and perhaps also a civil Sarbanes-Oxley internal-control procedures problem — for New Merck.
Namaste
harpy
after a little checking around I see that Vietnamese hospitals are state-run and Vietnam was one of the countries, along with China and Russia, where Seimens got into so much FCPA trouble.
thanks for the shout out!
Condor
Natch’, harpy — my pleasure!
During the afternoon — and presumably seeing as it’s April Fools’ Day — a buddy of mine, the erstwhile Salmon, put together a little diddy to go with the Vietnam Schering-Plough Pegintron “kickbacks” story.
[He reworked Country Joe's "Vietnam" lyrics -- excellent!]
I’ve encapsulated it, along with an archive-footage (YouTube’d) clip of Country Joe’s protest song performance — at Woodstock, some 40 years ago, now — for context. Do go look. Salmon’s lyrics are quite clever — and they actually rhyme!
Namaste
Speak the Truth
As the Greeks say, the fish always rots from the head down! So, look at the heads of the old SP to find the rot! For at least the third or fourth time in the pharma industry! What’s wrong with this picture? They’re still doing business.
Maria
After viewing and searching all latest information, it seems to me that this is political game of merger rather than the truth.