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Monday, ABC's Pierre Thomas filed an Investigates feature pointing the finger at organized crime gangs--Armenians in California, Nigerians in Texas, Cubans in Florida, Russians in the northeast--for running medical supply rackets to defraud Medicare. Now Thomas names AstraZeneca, the pharmaceuticals manufacturer, for "bilking taxpayers out of tens of millions of dollars." Thomas explained that AstraZeneca's scheme involved paying physicians for speaking engagements and sending them on travel junkets as incentives to have them prescribe the schizophrenia medication Seroquel for other, unapproved, mental illnesses such as dementia and depression. "Thousands of lawsuits have been filed against the company by patients complaining about side effects from Seroquel ranging from rapid weight gain to the onset of diabetes," Thomas told us. AstraZeneca is paying a $520m fine.
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