1st State Official Convicted in Antipsychotic Scam

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TMAP - Texas Medication Algorithm (guideline / menu) Project is a pharmaceutical hatched scheme to push the the newest most expensive antipsychotic drugs (Abilify, Geodon, Risperdal, Seroquel and Zyprexa) in State Medicaid programs despite the fact that they can cause rapid weight gain, diabetes, even death. TMAP was recommended by the President Bush's New Freedom Commission along with TeenScreen.

Thanks to whistleblower (see affidavit here: http://www.psychsearch.net//documents/tmap/allen_jones.pdf) and the Pennsyvlania Attorney General - the first criminal conviction has occurred.

Letters to the editor: opinion@...

State pharmacist convicted of conflict of interestPittsburgh Tribune Review

By Debra ErdleyDecember 24, 2008A judge has convicted a former state pharmacist on felony conflict of interest charges for taking payments from drug companies and pocketing money for supervising pharmacy interns from Duquesne University.

J. Fiorello Fiorello, 61, of Palmyra could face up to five years in prison and $10,000 in fines for each of two felony convictions. Dauphin County Judge , who ruled in a nonjury trial, scheduled sentencing for Jan. 21.Fiorello's attorney, ph Metz, said his client had not decided whether to appeal. "We're disappointed," he said.Fiorello was director of pharmacy for the Department of Public Welfare's Office of Mental Health, Substance and Abuse Services and was secretary of a committee that approved Medicaid-paid drugs in state hospitals, prisons and juvenile centers.Fiorello paid more than $27,000 in civil fines after the Pennsylvania Ethics Commission cited him for state ethics violations in connection with the same allegations in 2005.Attorney General Tom Corbett filed criminal charges against Fiorello a year later, accusing him of accepting money from drug companies for consulting work, honorariums and trips between 1998 and 2003, while he was the secretary of a panel that oversaw Medicaid drug guidelines for state hospitals.The complaint said Fiorello accepted perks from Pfizer and Janssen, two companies that were promoting the use of psychiatric drugs in state hospitals. And he used his position to pocket $2,400 from Duquesne University for supervising pharmacy interns at state hospitals between 2000 and 2003, prosecutors said.Fiorello was convicted on a third, misdemeanor count for failing to file a full accounting of his outside income on his state ethics disclosure forms."We're very pleased with this outcome," Deputy Attorney General Jonelle Harter Eshbach said. "We would not have brought criminal charges if we had not felt they were justified, over and above the ethics case."

Link: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_604288.html

Background info: http://tmap.wordpress.com/2006/12/29/janssen-pharmaceutica-misled-government-officials/The Philadelphia InquirerJanssen Pharmaceutica misled Government officialsDecember 29, 2006’ complaint alleges that the Texas health department received as much as $6 million in contributions from Janssen and other parties to implement the treatment guidelines under the Texas Medication Algorithm Project, known as TMAP.The largest contributors, according to the lawsuit, were Janssen and the Wood Foundation, the Princeton-based charity endowed by J & J’s cofounder that operates independently of the company.The foundation provided three grants totaling $2.8 million to evaluate TMAP as part of an effort “to improve treatment of chronic disease,” foundation spokesman Morse said.After the guidelines were adopted, Janssen “experienced a significant increase in sales of Risperdal” in Texas and worked to bring the program to other states, the suit alleges.State officials “traveled extensively, at the expense of defendants, to tout the wonders of the new drugs,” the complaint says.Janssen “improperly influenced state decision-makers with trips, perks, travel expenses, honoraria,” and paid state officials “to speak in their official capacities” to promote the drugs, the complaint says.In Pennsylvania, allegations about drug-company influence over Medicaid policy resulted in ethics charges against J. Fiorello, of Palmyra, former chief pharmacist for the Public Welfare Department.Fiorello was fined more than $27,000 last year and fired for using his position to earn extra income from two drug manufacturers, including Janssen. Fiorello also faces criminal charges.

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