Fake debarment.(illegal marketing of its AIDS drug serostim. )

Multinational Monitor, September, 2005 by Mokhiber, Russell

PHARMACEUTICAL MANUFACTURER

Serono Labs was hit with a major penalty in October. Or was it?

Serono Labs, a unit of the U.S. subsidiary of the Swiss corporation, Serono, S.A., agreed in October to plead guilty to the illegal marketing of its AIDS drug Serostim.

The corporate parents will pay a $136.9 criminal fine and an additional $567 million to settle civil liabilities, including liabilities under the False Claims Act.

Serostim is used to treat AIDS wasting, a condition involving profound involuntary weight loss in AIDS patients.

Serono Labs, the unit of the U.S. parent, will plead guilty to charges that the company conspired with medical device manufacturer RJL Sciences to market bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA)...