Former Drug Company Executives Accused of Offering Doctors Kickbacks

BOSTON (AP) - Four former executives of drug maker Serono Laboratories were charged Thursday with offering doctors kickbacks for writing prescriptions for an AIDS treatment drug with sagging sales.
A federal indictment accuses two former vice presidents with getting two regional sales directors to use illegal methods to persuade doctors to write more prescriptions for the drug Serostim.

The sales directors promised doctors in Florida and New Jersey free trips to a 1999 medical conference in Cannes, France, in exchange for writing up to 30 prescriptions, according to the indictment.

The defendants - vice presidents John Bruens, 48, and Mary Stewart, 44, and sales directors Melissa Vaughn, 43, and Marc Sirockman, 41 - left Serono between 1999 and 2000.

They are charged with conspiracy and multiple counts of offering to pay illegal remuneration. Each count carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.