7 doctors get probation, must pay $2.6 million for importing illegal cancer drugs

Five months after they were first charged in federal court with the crime, seven Ohio oncologists have been ordered to collectively pay nearly $2.6 million in fines and restitution for importing cancer drugs not approved for use in the United States by the Food and Drug Administration. The doctors, who also were sentenced to probation, admitted to causing the shipment of misbranded drugs, a misdemeanor violation of the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. The men, initially charged in criminal informations rather than grand jury indictments - which usually indicates the defendants are cooperating with federal prosecutors - were accused of obtaining drugs from outside the U.S. The drugs named included Zometa, Kytril, Taxotere, Gemzar, Eloxatin and others.