U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina apparently believes the old adage that everyone has at least one book in them. Judge Urbina sentenced a former Bristol-Myers Squibb exec to write one--in penance for giving false info to regulators about a 2006 agreement to delay generic competition for the clot-busting drug Plavix.
You remember the case: Andrew Bodnar, former Senior EVP at Bristol, pleaded guilty to a single count of lying to the FTC to hide a secret deal with Canadian generics maker Apotex. Bristol had promised Apotex that it wouldn't interfere with future generic sales, provided the copycat drugmaker agreed to postpone launching its version of Plavix. The FTC objected to that deal as, in effect, a pay-for-delay agreement. Bodnar excised that provision from Bristol's agreement with Apotex--but he made an oral promise to the generics maker, the government said. Bodnar denied it; he was charged with the crime.
In sentencing Bodnar to two years' probation, Judge Urbina also ordered him to write a book about his actions--and how they led to his conviction. "I would like to see you write a book" so other people "don't find themselves in a similar situation," Bloomberg quotes Urbina as saying. "Who knows, it may even be inspirational."
- read the Bloomberg article
- check out the WSJ Law Blog's take