Greeneville Physician and Wife Indicted in Connection with Misbranded Drugs and Health Care Fraud
Clinic Obtained Unapproved Foreign Drugs for Three Years

GREENEVILLE, TN—A federal grand jury in Greeneville returned an indictment on June 11, 2013, against Dr. Anindya Kumar Sen, 64; his wife, Patricia Posey Sen, 65; and their business, East Tennessee Cancer & Blood Center P.C. (ETCBC), all of Greeneville, Tennessee, for introduction of misbranded drugs with intent to defraud and mislead, importing drugs contrary to law, conspiracy to commit those offenses, and conspiracy to commit health care fraud.

Dr. and Mrs. Sen appeared in court on June 27, 2013, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Dennis H. Inman and pleaded not guilty. They were released pending trial, which has been set for September 4, 2013, in U.S. District Court, in Greeneville.

According to the indictment on file with the U.S. District Court, Sen was the owner and managing physician of ETCBC, a cancer clinic with locations in Greeneville and Johnson City; Posey was practice manager for the clinic. Beginning in April 2009, they began obtaining foreign drugs not approved for use by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States. The drugs were “misbranded,” as defined in the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, because, among other things, the drugs had not been manufactured at facilities registered with the FDA and the drugs’ packaging contained foreign languages. The Sens purchased over $3 million in unapproved drugs, which were administered to patients at ETCBC. Claims were then submitted to Medicare, TennCare, and other health care programs falsely representing that FDA-approved drugs had been administered.

If convicted, the Sens face terms of up to 20 years in prison on the health care charge and each of the unlawful importation charges, along with fines of up to $250,000 per count and up to three years of supervised release.

This indictment is the result of an investigation by the Food and Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigation, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Neil Smith and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Ben Cunningham will represent the United States.

Members of the public are reminded that an indictment constitutes only charges and that every person is presumed innocent until their guilt has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.