Alexandru Burducea, Fentanyl Trafficking, New York 2023

A Manhattan doctor has been sentenced to nearly five years in prison for his role in a fentanyl trafficking scheme, where he accepted bribes and kickbacks in exchange for prescribing the potent painkiller.

Alexandru Burducea, 43, of Little Neck, New York, was sentenced to 57 months in prison for conspiring to violate the Anti-Kickback Statute, in connection with the scheme to prescribe Subsys, a fentanyl-based spray, in exchange for bribes and kickbacks from Subsys’s manufacturer, Insys Therapeutics.

According to the allegations contained in the Indictment against Burducea and filings in related proceedings, Insys launched a ‘Speakers Bureau’ in or about August 2012, a roster of doctors who would conduct programs purportedly aimed at educating other practitioners about Subsys.

However, in reality, Insys used its Speakers Bureau to induce doctors to prescribe large volumes of Subsys by paying them Speaker Program fees. Burducea received approximately $68,400 in Speaker Program fees from Insys in exchange for prescribing large volumes of Subsys.

Burducea’s actions led to him becoming approximately the 14th-highest prescriber of Subsys nationally in the second quarter of 2015, accounting for total net sales of the drug of approximately $621,345 in that quarter.

In addition to the prison sentence, Burducea was sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to forfeit $68,400. A restitution order will be entered within 90 days.

Burducea was one of five Manhattan doctors convicted for participating in the Subsys bribery conspiracy. Todd Schlifstein was convicted upon a guilty plea and sentenced to two years in prison, while Dialecti Voudouris was convicted upon a guilty plea.

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