Case against doctor who pleaded guilty to dispensing off-brand chemo drugs in court

Madison County Circuit Judge Ann Callis will hold a hearing in a medical malpractice complaint against a doctor who pleaded guilty in federal court last year to selling off-brand chemotherapy drugs not approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

Rosemarie C. Wendler of Highland filed a pro se complaint against Dr. Abid O. Nisar last December, claiming he prescribed her chemotherapy drugs to treat leukemia she did not have.

In her complaint, Wendler alleges Nisar wrongly diagnosed her with leukemia. In turn, he prescribed her illegal chemotherapy drugs.

Attorney Bill T. Walker of Granite City filed a motion to dismiss without prejudice on behalf of Wendler on March 27,  requesting the right to re-file within one year.

The hearing will be held at 9 a.m. on May 3.

The motion states that Nisar has been served and that attorney Peter F. Spataro of Brown and James in St. Louis would be entering appearance for Nisar.

In Wendler's suit, she claims Nisar negligently administered illegal, non-FDA-approved chemotherapy drugs, diagnosed a condition she didn’t have, failed to interpret tests, unskillfully treated her, failed to see that proper care was provided and failed to take proper cognizance of her health, the complaint says.

Wendler is seeking a judgment of more than $50,000.

The River Front Times reported Nisar's indictment was issued in the Eastern District of Missouri in February 2012.

"Nisar began purchasing unregulated drugs for his cancer patients in 2010 at steep discounts compared to FDA-approved medicine," the report states. "Many of the drugs were manufactured in overseas factories without FDA oversight and often arrived stateside with foreign-language packaging. Nisar (with offices in Florissant, Granite City and East St. Louis) then billed Medicaid and Medicare for reimbursement for the drugs he gave patients, failing to mention to either agency the illegal source of his medicine."

Madison County Circuit Court case number: 12-L-2093.