A onetime prescription drug wholesaler has been sentenced to nearly six years behind bars after being convicted of illegally shipping human growth hormones from California to Florida.
Arnesto Segredo, 43, of Miami, was found guilty in August of conspiring to divert prescription drugs Serostim and Nutropin AQ, and causing the diversion of these drugs in interstate commerce.
Segredo had hundreds of boxes of the drugs shipped to him from 2000 through 2002. At the time, he operated Life Extension Institute, an unlicensed Miami-based prescription drug wholesaler. He later operated Genendo Purchasing Organization, a licensed Miami-based prescription drug wholesaler.
Serostim is an injectable drug approved by the FDA for the treatment of AIDS-wasting syndrome in HIV-infected patients. Nutropin AQ is an injectable drug approved by the FDA for the treatment of growth hormone deficiency, including children with short stature.
According to prosecutors, Segredo received a significant portion of Serostim from AIDS patients in California who obtained it from the state’s Medicaid program.
According to evidence presented in court, the Nutropin AQ that he distributed was counterfeit and harmed one child.
Story from BizJournals. com
Arnesto Segredo, a former prescription drug wholesaler, from Miami, was sentenced to almost six years in prison for conspiring to divert human growth hormones in interstate commerce.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, the charges against Segredo, 43, stemmed from causing suppliers in California, not licensed for wholesale distribution of prescription drugs in California, to ship him hundreds of boxes of Serostim, and some Nutropin AQ, from 2000 through the end of 2002.
Segredo operated Life Extension Institute, a Miami-based prescription drug wholesaler not licensed to distribute drugs in Florida. He later operated Genendo Purchasing Organization, which obtained a Florida license in 2001.
Segredo, convicted of two felony counts, was sentenced to 70 months in prison. Evidence showed that the Nutropin AQ distributed by Segredo was counterfeit, the U.S. Attorney's office. The counterfeit Nutropin ultimately caused harm to a child, prosecutors charged.
Serostim is an injectable drug approved for treatment of HIV/AIDS patients. Nutropin AQ is an injectable drug used to treat growth hormone deficiency, including children.
Story from the Miami Herald .com
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Good! I can only wish that ALL conterfeiters get what they deserve.
ReplyDeleteSigned Munix.