The husband of Tennessee Congresswoman Diane Harshbarger has received a pardon from President Donald Trump for distributing misbranded drugs he purchased from China to kidney dialysis patients.
Robert Harshbarger Jr. was sentenced to, and served, four years in federal prison along with a $25,000 fines and $848,504 in restitution in November 2013.
Robert Harshbarger pleaded guilty to one count of distributing a misbranded drug and one count of health care fraud. He admitted to giving patients iron sucrose that had not been certified by the FDA to meet quality and safety standards, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. He said he bought the iron sucrose from Chinese companies because it was “cheaper than purchasing Venofer,” according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
A White House official on Tuesday defended the pardon for Harshbarger, saying that he was a victim of “excessive prosecution” and that the drug substitution he made was a common practice among pharmacists known as “compounding,” in which unapproved drugs are provided to patients based on their condition or for other reasons. The official insisted on anonymity to discuss the reasoning behind Trump’s clemency decision.
Harshbarger claimed he turned to the Chinese drug due to a backlog of the iron sucrose drug, the White House official said. No patients were alleged to have been harmed by the substitution, and doctors seemed to prefer the drug Harshbarger gave them because it was easier to administer, the official said.
At the time of the offense, his wife was not a member of Congress. Both Harshbargers are pharmacists.
Diana was elected to Tennessee’s 1st Congressional District in 2021. She’s previously spoken out about China’s influence of the pharmaceutical industry.
“When 90% of those ingredients to make your medications are held hostage by China, that’s a problem,” Harshbarger said in a statement posted to her congressional page from 2022. “They don’t have to drop a bomb, folks, they just have to cut your medicine off.”
Their son, Bobby Harshbarger, is a Tennessee State Senator from the 4th District in Hawkins and Sullivan Counties. He is also a pharmacist. Many Tennessee Political observers expect him to run for Congress to succeed to his mother‘s seat at some point.
Last week, Trump endorsed Congresswoman Harshbarger along with other Republican congressional endorsements in Tennessee. She has been a strong and loyal supporter of President Trump.
Steve Gill is editor and publisher of TriStar Daily.
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