Midwest Veterinary Supply Forfeits Over $10M for Misbranded Drugs
A Minnesota-based company that supplies prescription drugs for animals to veterinarians, farms, feedlots and other businesses, Midwest Veterinary Supply (Midwest), has pled guilty to introducing misbranded drugs into interstate commerce and has agreed to pay more than $10 million in criminal fines and forfeiture, reports the United States Attorney’s Office of the Western District of Virginia.
“The FDA regulates animal drugs as part of its mission to protect the public health. Part of this responsibility includes ensuring that prescription animal drugs are lawfully distributed and dispensed pursuant to a valid prescription,” says Special Agent in Charge George A. Scavdis at the FDA Office of Criminal Investigations’ Metro Washington Field Office, in the report.
Court documents explain the company shipped prescription drugs from their non-pharmacy locations throughout the U.S. to end-users that were not authorized to receive prescription drugs, deeming the shipments misbranded from 2011 to 2021. Over the ten-year span, the company shipped at least $10,150,014 worth of misbranded drugs.
The law is designed, in part, to ensure that prescription drugs are kept within a controlled chain of distribution to prevent diversion and inappropriate use, says the report.
As part of the plea agreement, Midwest will forfeit the $10,150,014 of misbranded drug income and serve between one- and three-years’ probation. Additionally, the company will pay $1 million to the Virginia Department of Health Professions and a $500,000 fine.
