Attorney General’s Office seeks emergency suspension of nurse’s license

Wilmington man was arrested in Pa. with 33 bags of heroin, 4 bags of cocaine

 

Wilmington – Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden announced today that his office has filed an emergency motion with the state’s Board of Nursing to suspend the license of a man who has been arrested and charged with serious drug-related offenses.

 

Paul J. Walker, of Wilmington, who holds a nursing license in Delaware, was employed as a registered nurse at the DuBois Regional Medical Center in central Pennsylvania when he was arrested July 13 in suburban Philadelphia by the Towamencin Township Police. Walker was found carrying 33 bags of heroin and 4 bags of cocaine when police arrested him.  He has since resigned his position at the medical center.

 

Walker has been charged in Pennsylvania with two counts of possession of a controlled substance (heroin and cocaine), possession of drug paraphernalia and receipt in commerce of a controlled substance.

 

Bidens’ office is seeking the emergency suspension so Walker cannot work as a registered nurse in Delaware. The first hearing in the criminal case against him in Pennsylvania is not scheduled until October.

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Complaint and Motion for Emergency Suspension (Walker)


Wyeth to pay $491 million to resolve allegations of off-label marketing of popular transplant drug

Biden’s office secures $111,000 recovery for Delaware’s Medicaid Program in national settlement

Wilmington – Attorney General Beau Biden announced today that the State of Delaware, along with other states and the federal government, has reached an agreement with Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, Inc. to settle civil and criminal allegations that the company improperly promoted the sale and use of the kidney transplant drug Rapamune for uses that had not been approved by the FDA.  As a result, Wyeth will pay $491 million to resolve civil and criminal allegations, including a $60 million recovery to the Medicaid state-federal cost-sharing healthcare program.  $111,713 of that recovery will be paid to the Delaware Medicaid program.

Rapamune has been approved by the FDA for use in preventing the body from rejecting a donor kidney that has been transplanted into the body.   The investigation by the states and federal government resulted from several qui tam, or “whistleblower” cases that were filed by private individuals in federal district courts in Pennsylvania and Oklahoma under state and federal false claims statutes.  Those cases alleged that Wyeth knowingly promoted the sale and use of Rapamune for use in connection with organ transplant patients other than kidney transplant patients which were not approved by the FDA and, therefore were not covered by Medicaid, and for use in treatment regimens that had not been approved by the FDA, including for use by transplant patients who used another immunosuppressant drug before using Rapamune and who did not receive Rapamune at or around the time of a kidney transplant.

“It’s wrong to risk patient health and defraud the taxpayers by improperly marketing a drug for unapproved and potentially unsafe uses in the drive to make a profit,” Biden said.  “With this action we’ve made it clear that this conduct won’t be tolerated and we have recovered funds for the Delaware Medicaid program that will help strengthen our ability to meet our state’s healthcare needs.”

Under the national settlement, which received approval this week in federal district court in Oklahoma, Wyeth will pay the states and the federal government more than $257 million in civil damages and penalties to resolve the civil allegations of off label marketing.  Additionally, Wyeth has pled guilty in federal court in Oklahoma to violations of the U.S. Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and will agreed to pay more than $233 million in criminal fines and forfeitures.

In late 2009 Pfizer Inc. acquired Wyeth.  The off label marketing, and the conduct to which Wyeth pled guilty, occurred prior to Pfizer’s acquisition of Wyeth.  Pfizer cooperated fully with the federal government and the states in the investigation.  A team from the National Association of Medicaid Fraud Control Units conducted the settlement negotiations with Wyeth & Pfizer on behalf of Delaware and the other participating states.  Delaware’s participation in the investigation and settlement was facilitated through the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.

 

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Biden, staff help give back to disabled Veteran at Sussex County Habitat for Humanity Build Day

sussex county habitat for humanity logo

Georgetown, DE – Attorney General Beau Biden joined a group of two dozen staff and family members from the Attorney General’s Office Saturday, July 27th to roll up their sleeves and show their support for Sussex County Habitat for Humanity’s Veteran Build Home in Georgetown Point.  The home is being built and funded by local Veterans and Veterans groups for Mari Ellyn Hellard, a disabled US Air Force Veteran and her two sons Joseph and Joshua.  As a member of the Army National Guard who was deployed to Iraq with the First State’s 261st Signal Brigade, Biden worked a shift alongside other volunteers to put down flooring to prepare for upcoming tile work and installing vinyl siding.
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Attorney General Beau Biden helps other volunteers laying down backboard in the Veteran’s Build Home

“Our staff and I were privileged to spend some time this weekend with Mari Ellyn and her family and to lend a hand to the construction of their beautiful new home,” Biden said.  “I want to thank Habitat for Humanity and our dedicated veteran’s organizations for their commitment to her and for meeting the needs of so many other members of our community.”

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As the volunteers gathered together Saturday for a photo with the Hellard family, Tom Protack, Community Engagement Director for Sussex County Habitat for Humanity, shared Habitat’s Mission, “Today we are putting God’s love into action by bringing people together to build homes, communities, and hope.  Your presence today and willingness to lift a hammer to help gives Mari Ellyn and other Habitat Partner Families the hope they need to have better lives with a simple, decent and affordable home.”  Biden added, “We’re sending a clear message to service men and women around the world, those on active duty and those retired, that our nation honors their sacrifice and they are a vital part of our community.”
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Attorney General Beau Biden with Mari Ellyn Hellard and her two sons Joseph and Joshua
Biden was joined on Saturday by his wife and two children, including his daughter, Natalie, who presented a bracelet she made to Mari Ellyn. As part of a Habitat tradition, Biden family members signed the studs of the walls and wrote messages of thanks and support to the Hellard family that will be there forever.

If you would like to participate in Sussex County Habitat for Humanity’s work by donating, volunteering or participating in future events surrounding the Veteran Build Project, contact Habitat at 302-855-1153 or visit www.sussexcountyhabitat.org.


Duo receive lengthy prison sentences for 2011 bank robbery, shootout with police

   Dover – Attorney General Beau Biden announced that two Kent County men received lengthy prison sentences this morning for a brazen 2011 bank robbery and subsequent shootout with police during a car chase through Kent County.  William Sells, age 31, and Russell Grimes, age 42, were convicted on a host of charges this past May following their trial in Kent County Superior Court.

“These dangerous offenders placed the lives of scores of victims, police officers, and citizens at risk through their violent behavior and complete disregard for the law,” Biden said.  “The sentences handed down today – in which these defendants will effectively spend the rest of their lives behind bars – is necessary to protect the public and punish them for their crimes.”

On August 26, 2011, Sells and Grimes committed an armed robbery of the Felton branch of the First National bank of Wyoming.  After fleeing the bank, the defendants engaged with a shoot-out with police along an 16-mile car chase through Kent County during which multiple shots were fired, striking at least three pursuing police cruisers from the Felton and Harrington Police Departments and Delaware State Police.  Fortunately, no police officers or civilians sustained injuries during the robbery or the pursuit.  Grimes was arrested on the day of the robbery after being struck in the exchange of gunfire with police.  Sells was arrested on September 6, 2011 following a three-hour standoff with police after he was located at the Shamrock Motel off US 13 near Dover.

On May 28, 2013, following their trial in Kent County Superior Court, the Jury found both defendants guilty of multiple charges.  Russell Grimes was found guilty of Robbery, Conspiracy, Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony, Possession of a Firearm by a Person Prohibited, and Reckless Endangering.  William Sells was found guilty of Robbery, Possession of a Firearm during the commission of a felony, Possession of a Firearm by a Person Prohibited, Wearing a Disguise During the Commission of a Felony, Aggravated Menacing, and Reckless Endangering.

Before the sentence was imposed today, Judge Robert B. Young approved a prosecution motion seeking to have both defendants sentenced under Delaware’s Habitual Offender Statute, which provides for enhanced sentences for repeat violent offenders.  Judge Young sentenced Sells to 96 years in prison and Grimes to 64 years in prison.  Because both were sentenced as habitual offenders, each defendant’s prison term is mandatory and neither will receive credit for good time while incarcerated.

This case was prosecuted by Deputy Attorney General Susan Schmidhauser.

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