Lead attorneys, Mohamed H. Nabulsi, Damian P. Conforti and Robert C. Scrivo, Partners at Mandelbaum Salsburg, representing Dr. Mukaram Gazi, a Marlboro physician accused of in a scheme to receive bribes and kickbacks from a pharmaceutical company in exchange for unlawfully prescribing large volumes of a powerful fentanyl narcotic has released the following statement:
"Dr. Gazi vehemently denies the allegations in the government’s indictment as patently false and without any basis in fact and is confident he will be exonerated.
Dr. Gazi is a highly respected, well-trained board-certified urologist, as well as a uro-oncology surgeon, who adheres to the highest clinical and ethical standards in the treatment of his patients.
Contrary to the government’s claims, at no time did Dr. Gazi accept bribes from Insys in return for prescribing any medication to his patients; rather, all treatment he rendered and medications he prescribed to his patients were medically necessary and appropriate and based on his independent medical judgment.
In indicting Dr. Gazi, the government opted to overzealously prosecute him based merely on his participation in an industry-standard speaker program from nearly a decade ago that is permitted under both federal law and state law.
In essence, despite the ubiquity of pharmaceutical speaker programs and their recognized propriety under the law, the government is attempting to criminalize a physician’s participation in these legally recognized practices.
Dr. Gazi intends to vigorously defend against the government’s allegations so as to preserve his ability to continue to deliver excellent patient care."
Government law enforcement officials presenting the case alleged that Gazi solicited and received more than $130,000 in bribes and kickbacks from Insys Therapeutics.
In exchange for prescribing its drug Subsys, the pharmaceutical company based in Arizona, is a powerful opioid narcotic designed to rapidly enter a patient’s bloodstream upon being sprayed under the tongue.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Subsys solely for the “management of breakthrough pain in cancer patients who are already receiving and who are tolerant to around-the-clock therapy for their underlying persistent cancer pain.”
Gazi did not treat patients suffering from breakthrough cancer pain and was not in the practice of prescribing fentanyl-based pain medications.