Former Advanced BioHealing executive Todd Clawson last week pleaded guilty to federal charges that he bribed U.S. Veterans Affairs Dept. doctors to use the company’s DermaGraft biologic wound dressing.
Federal prosecutors accused Clawson, who left the company in 2012, of participating in a scheme to bribe VA physicians to use the DermaGraft diabetic foot ulcer treatment with a series of inducements including paid trips to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, Def Leppard concert tickets, a fishing trip in Wyoming and junkets to Las Vegas with an ocean fishing kayak, according to court documents.
Clawson, who’s due to be sentenced June 10, pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy to commit criminal conflicts of interest, bribery and healthcare fraud.
A patent infringement lawsuit and a U.S. Justice Dept. probe followed, and by 2014, the Irish pharma giant had lost patience, dealing the company to 1 of its former rivals, Organogenesis, for just $300 million.
