Daniel Richards, 37, a Utah pharmacy CEO, was sentenced April 6 to three years of probation and a $10,000 fine after pleading guilty to receiving misbranded chloroquine from China with the intent to sell it in the U.S.
Mr. Richards, CEO of Meds In Motion, a pharmacy in Draper, Utah, admitted in January that in April 2020, he imported more than 50 kilograms of misbranded and mislabeled chloroquine from China and intended to sell it in the U.S. The drug was mislabeled as boswellia serrata extract and wasn't made by an establishment registered as a drugmaker with the FDA.
The drug's labeling also failed to disclose adequate directions for use, as is required by federal law, the U.S. Justice Department said in a news release.
Chloroquine was touted as a possible COVID-19 treatment at the start of the pandemic, but was found ineffective in several clinical trials.
Mr. Richards has also agreed to pay for the destruction of the drug by proper authorities.
Read the full news release here.
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