N.J. firm fined for shipping bad drugs

A Bayshore, N.Y., pharmaceutical firm has been fined $1 million for illegally shipping adulterated drugs and marketing unapproved drugs.

Superpharm Corp. pleaded guilty yesterday in U.S. District Court in Baltimore to a four-count criminal information.

Evidence presented by U.S. Attorney Raymond A. Bonner showed that the company shipped Diazepam, an anti-anxiety drug, to Maryland and other states after falsifying test data submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The company also pleaded guilty to illegally marketing Quinidine Gluconate, which is used to control irregular heartbeats, and Doxycycline Hyclate, an antibiotic, after changing the FDA-approved formula for the drugs.

Superpharm was the sixth pharmaceutical company to plead guilty to federal charges since the U.S. attorney's office here began investigating corruption and fraud in the generic drug industry in 1989.