San Diego Pharmacist Pleads Guilty in Misbranded Cancer Drug Case

Alvarado Medical Pharmacy owner and pharmacist, William Burdine, pleaded guilty December 4th, 2013 to health care fraud in charges pertaining to his purchase and sale of illegally imported cancer medications from a known supplier of counterfeit cancer medication, Quality Specialty Products (QSP). QSP based in Winnepeg, Canada, was previously identified as one of the foreign suppliers of counterfeit Avastin that was found in U.S. doctors’ offices in February 2012.

Who: FDA OCI, U.S. Department of Justice.

When: December 4, 2013, May 2010-June 2011.

Where:San Diego, California, U.S.A.

How: FDA-OCI Investigation.

Additional details: As part of his guilty plea, Burdine admitted that Alvarado Pharmacy routinely substituted the illegally imported cancer drugs in place of genuine medication when filling prescriptions and preparing infusions for doctors who were his customers.

Related sources:

December 4, 2013: Alvarado Pharmacy and Owner Plead Guilty to Importing Unapproved Oncology Drugs and Fraudulently Billing Medicare ,”FDA Press Release. December 4, 2013.