Ex-Serono executives acquitted
A federal jury today acquitted four former Massachusetts executives of drug maker Serono SA of charges they bribed doctors to prescribe an AIDS drug.
It was a major setback for US Justice Department prosecutors, who have focused on the pharmaceutical industry.
The jury in US District Court in Boston took a few hours to set aside all charges — a stark contrast to the decision the company made in 2005 to pay $704 million to settle related criminal and civil charges.
Defense attorneys said the verdict showed prosecutors have pushed too hard. They noted a similar case, involving TAP Pharmaceuticals, which in 2001 agreed to pay $885 million to settle kickback charges, only to see individual executives acquitted on similar charges in 2004.
‘‘The jury’s verdict once again says this US attorney’s office has been overreaching on pharmaceutical cases,’’ said Tracy Miner, who represented one of the former Serono employees and had previously defended a TAP executive. ‘‘It’s another case where the office has inappropriately charged employees of a pharma company who did nothing more than their jobs.’’
A spokeswoman for the US attorney’s office in Boston had no comment.
Spokesmen for Serono, whose US headquarters is in Rockland, did not answer a request for comment.
Defense attorneys said the individual defendants were not available to comment. They are former vice presidents Mary Stewart of North Andover and John Bruens of San Diego, and two regional sales directors, Melissa Vaughn of Colorado and Marc Sirockman of New Jersey.
Last year, Serono was purchased by the German chemical giant Merck KGaA for more than $13 billion.
(By Ross Kerber, Globe staff)
