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From Times Staff and Wire Reports

Charges Filed Over Retin-A Promotion: A former employee of Johnson & Johnson was charged with conspiracy to defraud the Food and Drug Administration, federal prosecutors said. The charges against Lester Riley stem from the improper promotion of the acne-fighting drug for use as an agent to combat wrinkles. The charges came a day after Ortho Pharmaceutical, a unit of New Brunswick, N.J.-based Johnson & Johnson, pleaded guilty to destroying documents regarding the use of Retin-A and agreed to pay a $7.5-million fine. Regulators were probing whether Ortho’s public and professional education programs in the late 1980s amounted to a promotion of the drug for unapproved use.

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