Sami Anwar, Clinical Research Trial Fraud, Washington 2019

A Richland business owner has been sentenced to more than 28 years in federal prison for falsifying human clinical research trials in connection with a fraud scheme. Sami Anwar, age 41, of Richland, Washington, was sentenced to a 340-month term of imprisonment by Senior District Judge Edward F. Shea.

According to court documents and evidence presented during the trial and at sentencing, between 2013 and 2018 Sami Anwar directed and carried out a conspiracy to have his companies fraudulently pose as legitimate human clinical research trial sites and provide false clinical research trial data regarding drug safety and drug efficacy to dozens of drug companies and, through them, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The false clinical research data that Sami Anwar injected into the public health system included safety data on dozens of different drugs and medicines designed to treat a wide variety of diseases and conditions including, but not limited to, heart disease, diabetes, asthma, pediatric illnesses, adolescent smoking, cirrhosis, scabies, depression, and opioid addiction to name just a few.

The evidence at trial indicated that Sami Anwar and his companies received over $5.6 million dollars from the fraud.

Every day, Americans rely on the data from clinical research trials to keep us safe from deadly diseases and dangerous side effects. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and the vital ongoing clinical trials currently being conducted with regard to therapeutic treatments and vaccines, remind us every day how critical clinical research trials are and how important it is that they be conducted honestly and reliably.

According to court documents and the evidence presented at trial and at sentencing, Sami Anwar, who is not a licensed medical doctor, would pose as a doctor and forge the signatures of the doctors he employed. In addition, over a dozen former employees of Sami Anwar testified that he directly instructed them to assist him in committing the fraud including falsifying medical records and data to admit dozens of ineligible research subjects; falsifying research data including electrocardiograms and vital signs, obtaining blood specimens from Sami Anwar’s employees or stealing them from unwitting medical patients of his medical center, disposing of study medications by shooting them down the drain and then falsely recording them as having been properly injected as required, dangerously hoarding opioids intended to be dispensed to study subjects, and fabricating required subject diary entries.

Sami Anwar not only directed the fraud but engaged in threats, retaliation, and intimidation in order to hide his crimes from drug companies, the FDA, which regulates human clinical trials in the United States, and law enforcement.

United States Attorney William D. Hyslop said, “Every day, Americans rely on the data from clinical research trials to keep us safe from deadly diseases and dangerous side effects...Injecting fraudulent and corrupt data into the system is an egregious breach of the trust and faith that we all place in those who perform these vitally important trials.”

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edwa/pr/richland-business-owner-sentenced-more-28-years-federal-prison-falsifying-human