WASHINGTON, Oct. 18 (UPI) -- A Florida man has been sentenced to prison for importing cancer drugs and illegally selling them to physicians in the United States, the FBI said Friday.
Martin Paul Bean pleaded guilty to selling unapproved and misbranded drugs, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, mail fraud and other violations, and was sentenced to two years in jail, the FBI said in a news release.
Bean and an associate targeted oncologists by faxing advertisements to hundreds of medical offices, claiming to offer generic cancer medicines at 20 percent to 35 percent discounts and leading doctors to believe the medications were approved by the Federal Drug Administration.
The drugs, made in Turkey, India and Pakistan, were not FDA-approved, and more than 50 physicians purchased them, the statement said.
Two unidentified doctors admitted knowingly purchasing the foreign drugs, and one was fined $100,000, the FBI said.
