Feds say Boca Raton man sold $7 million in unapproved cancer drugs

In August 2010, a suburban Boca Raton man sent an email to his California and Canada co-workers, warning them that undercover FDA investigators might be on to their business of selling unapproved cancer drugs to doctors throughout the United States.

Martin P. Bean III didnt find it necessary, however, to halt the illegal business he ran from his home or stop wire transfers of millions of dollars in profits to bank accounts in and outside the country.

Those allegations are spelled out in an indictment filed Sept. 6 in federal court in the Southern District of California. Bean, 63, faces a multitude of charges, including the sale of unapproved drugs and misbranded drugs, mail and wire fraud.

He is accused of buying cancer drugs that were never approved in the United States and labeling them as FDA-approved. Bean bought the drugs the majority of which were the generic form of name brands from international sites, including India, Pakistan and Turkey. He would then sell them to doctors all over the country, including Boca Raton, Jamestown, N.Y., Illinois and San Diego.

The indictment alleges Bean ran his business, called GlobalRxStore in the complaint, for at least six years. He was extradited last week and will face a federal judge in San Diego.

Sarah Clark-Lynn, a spokeswoman for the FDA, said the prescription drug supply chain in the U.S. is one of the safest in the world due to the strict regulatory framework. Still, we continue to see examples of threats that pose public health risks to consumers, Clark-Lynn wrote in an email to The Palm Beach Post.

Clark-Lynn said the FDA has notified doctors and medical practices who bought the suspected misbranded drugs and put alerts on the FDA website.

Its unclear whether any of the doctors who bought the drugs were aware that they were misbranded. Its also unclear whether any patients were hurt.

Bean could not be reached for comment.

Through GlobalRxStore, Bean sold more than $7 million worth of prescription oncology drugs, which are typically administered intravenously, from February 2005 to October 2011. He and others sold the unapproved drugs to doctors at discounted prices. Generic drugs are generally much cheaper than their brand-name competitors.

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Feds say Boca Raton man sold $7 million in unapproved cancer drugs