ALBANY -- A northern New York company that imports and sells drugs to U.S. pharmacies has been fined and ordered to forfeit $1.7 million in profits for selling Chinese human growth hormone and claiming it was FDA-approved.
Medisca of Plattsburgh, and its president, 63-year-old Antonio Dos Santos of Montreal, were sentenced Wednesday in federal court in Albany.
Medisca was ordered to pay a $10,000 fine and Dos Santos to pay a $5,000 fine. Medisca and Dos Santos also paid $1.7 million, the company's gross profits from the unlawful drug sales.
U.S. Attorney Richard Hartunian said the Food and Drug Administration is conducting a safety review of recombinant human growth hormone, also called somatropin. Medisca imported the drug from China from July 2004 through February 2007 and mislabeled it with an FDA number.
