This report originally appeared in the March 2010 issue of DOTmed Business News

Scott Reuben, the former chief of acute pain at Bay State Hospital in Springfield, MA, has been charged in a federal criminal investigation with one count of health care fraud regarding falsifying medical research studies, including some that were published in medical journals regarding pain management. A plea agreement has been entered in the case.

According to the criminal information, Reuben had made proposals to pharmaceutical companies for research funding for drugs proposed to use in multimodal analgesia therapy. He allegedly represented that he would be performing clinical studies as lead investigator, using actual patients and the drugs that would be the subject of a research grant. Reuben also prepared articles for publication in medical journals based on the research. The information states the research was false as the studies had not actually been performed, and the results reported in medical journals were false.
Reuben may be sentenced up to 10 years' imprisonment, 3 years of supervised release after imprisonment and a $250,000 fine. The case was investigated by the Food & Drug Administration - Office of Criminal Investigations. The defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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