Counterfeit surgical mesh distributor pleads guilty
Phil Taylor, 14-Dec-2011
Medical device
distributor Ram Medical has admitted selling counterfeit and
contaminated surgical mesh in the USA that it had purchased from
suppliers in the Middle East and India.
Ram Medical's chief executive Richard Mazon pleaded guilty to the
charges of introducing adulterated and misbranded medical devices
into interstate commerce in a court in Newark, New Jersey, last
week.
Each charge carries a maximum potential penalty of five years of
probation and a maximum fine of $200,000, or twice the gain or loss
caused by the offense, said the US Department of Justice in a
statement.
The distributor purchased 420 boxes of surgical hernia mesh from
United Arab Emirates-based Alpa Vision FZE, which in turn had
procured the product from Indian company M/S Medserve.
Ram Medical also purchased roughly 100 additional boxes of the mesh
- which was a copy of a genuine product sold by C R Bard subsidiary
Davol Inc - from M/S Medserve directly.
Last year, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned that
counterfeit versions of flat polypropylene meshes sold under the
Bard or Davol brand names were in circulation and being used in
place of genuine product for procedures such as the repair of
hernias and chest wall defects (see Counterfeit surgical mesh confirmed as
health risk).
The distributor has agreed to make full restitution for the value
of the adulterated and misbranded surgical hernia mesh to those who
purchased or used the mesh, and has taken responsibility for
locating and destroying the counterfeit product.
Ram Medical and another distributor - Medline Industries - are
facing lawsuits from patients who claim to have been injured as a
result of exposure to the counterfeit mesh.
Sentencing is scheduled for March 8, 2012.
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