June
08, 2011
Convicted CEO Giving DOJ Taste of Its
Medicine
How the
tables have turned. A press
release got Dr. Scott Harkonen convicted of a federal crime. Now, he's going
after the DOJ for what he calls a false statement in one of its press releases about his case. Harkonen
is the InterMune executive who was prosecuted for wire fraud stemming from a false press
release aimed at boosting sales of a drug. A jury convicted him in 2009. Mark
Haddad of Sidley Austin, who is now working with Dennis Riordan on the appeal
and other fall-out from the prosecution, filed a request under the relatively
obscure Information Quality Act, in hopes of the DOJ putting out a corrected
statement. "It's
an extremely bitter, painful irony," Haddad said Wednesday. Prosecutors'
statement in question read: "The actions of this defendant served to
divert precious financial resources from the VA's critical mission providing healthcare
to this nation's military veterans." That's not
true, Haddad says. The lengthy and recently concluded sentencing process showed
the government was unable to prove Harkonen's actions promoting the drug
Actimmune caused a financial loss to private insurers or federal agencies,
including the Veterans Administration. The
Harkonen case was a major health-care fraud case handled by the San Franisco
U.S. Attorney's office in recent years. But it ended with a fizzle. Federal
Judge Marilyn Hall Patel rejected the government's request for a prison
sentence and a $1 million fine. Instead she ordered probation, home detention,
community service and a $20,000 fine. The U.S.
attorney's office didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Haddad
noted that Patel even said during sentencing that Harkonen has much to offer to society. It
doesn't help, though, that there's a damning press release easily
accessible on the Internet, Haddad said. "He
would very much like to participate again in the area of drug development, but
it's the government that's standing in the way of that right now,"
Haddad said. Haddad filed a previous IQA request about another statement in the
DOJ's press release but got no relief. The case
is on appeal. TrackBack
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