P.M. BRIEFING : Drug Executive Fined for Bribe
BALTIMORE — A pharmaceuticals executive was fined $150,000 and placed on 18 months’ probation for bribing a Food and Drug Administration chemist in a generic drug scam.
Ashok Patel, 49, of Upper Saddle River, N.J., was also sentenced to a year of community service.
The former senior vice president of Par Pharmaceuticals of Spring Valley, N.Y., pleaded guilty in July to paying a $500 gratuity to FDA chemist David Brancato.
Prosecutors said Patel paid Brancato a total of $1,600 to influence FDA approval of Par generic drugs. He was also accused of paying $2,900 to Charles Chang, Brancato’s boss in the FDA generic drug division.
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