Court: HHS Can Ban Rx Drug Execs From Federal Programs
Last week, a federal appeals court affirmed HHS' power to bar pharmaceutical company executives who are tied to corporate wrongdoing from conducting business with federal programs like Medicare and Medicaid. However, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit asked the agency to reassess the 12-year period for the restriction. Â The ruling came in a case involving three former Purdue Pharma executives who pleaded guilty to misleading the public about the safety of the painkiller OxyContin. Although the company paid $313 million in fines to cover civil and criminal penalties, HHS wanted to exclude the three executives from government business for 12 years.
- "Court Backs Crackdown on Drug Officials" (Kendall, Wall Street Journal, 7/27).