Lipitor Counterfeiter Sentenced to Prison

By William Murphy

Published on July 06, 2006

Appearing before U.S. District Court Judge Ortrie Smith, Gonzalez also admitted to packaging the counterfeit tablets in bottles with labels that falsely declared the contents were made by Pfizer, the maker of genuine Lipitor. Gonzalez is to pay the $1.8 million to Pfizer.

An investigation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Office of Criminal Investigation led to the August 2005 indictment of Gonzalez and more than a dozen others for a scheme that was responsible for the 2003 recall of more than 18 million counterfeit Lipitor tablets.

Among the accused are Florida resident Douglas Albers, owner of Albers Medical Distributors, and Maria Milgrom, owner of Farma International in Miami. Prosecutors allege that the group shipped the chemicals and equipment necessary for manufacturing counterfeit Lipitor to Honduras and Costa Rica. Albers is currently awaiting trial. Milgrom pleaded guilty to supplying the ingredients used to make the counterfeit Lipitor. She was sentenced June 29 to five years' probation and ordered to pay $1.8 million in restitution.

Prosecutors also accuse the group of purchasing large quantities of legitimate Lipitor intended for use in South America and illegally re-importing it for sale in the United States.

The counterfeit Lipitor was harmless but provided no cholesterol-reducing benefit to users.

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