Oncologist pays $300 000 to settle US claims of billing for fake cancer drug

A California oncologist and his wife, who was also his office manager, have paid $300 000 (£205 000; €268 000) to settle government allegations that they billed Medicare for illegally imported, unapproved cancer drugs—which later turned out to contain no active ingredient.

John F Kiraly III became the third oncologist in California, and at least the fifth nationwide, to be ensnared in a federal investigation into illegal shipments from a Turkish pharmaceutical distributor. Many of the shipments were ordered through a British wholesaler, Warwick Healthcare Solutions, also known as Richards Pharma.

The case dates from 2011, when the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) office of criminal investigation found misbranded and unapproved cancer drugs …