Glaxo Smith Kline to Pay 3 BILLION in Fraud Settlement !!

[Old Herb Lady]

Billion with a B ! This doesn't surprise me at all, no wonder my favorite movie is The Fugitive .

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/03/business/glaxosmithkline-agrees-to-pay-3-billion-in-fraud-settlement.html


Published: July 2, 2012


The British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/glaxosmithkline_plc/index.html?inline=nyt-org) agreed to plead guilty to criminal charges and pay
$3 billion in fines for illegally promoting the antidepressants Paxil (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/paxil_drug/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier) and Wellbutrin and for failing to report safety data about the diabetes drug Avandia (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/avandiadrug/index.htm?inline=nyt-classifier), federal prosecutors announced Monday.





The settlement marks the largest payment ever by a drug company,
eclipsing the previous record of $2.3 billion set by Pfizer in 2009, the government said.
“Today’s multibillion-dollar settlement is unprecedented in both size and scope,” said James M. Cole, the deputy attorney general. “It underscores the administration’s firm commitment to protecting the American people and holding accountable those who commit health care fraud.”
The initial terms of the settlement were announced in November (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/04/business/glaxo-to-pay-3-billion-in-avandia-settlement.html), and GlaxoSmithKline had already set aside cash for the settlement. In a statement Monday, the company said it has since changed its compliance and marketing procedures
Andrew Witty, the chief executive, sought to portray the illegal actions as part of the company’s past.

“Whilst these originate in a different era for the company, they cannot and will not be ignored,” he said in the statement. “On behalf of GSK, I want to express our regret and reiterate that we have learnt from the mistakes that were made.”
Two of the three misdemeanor criminal charges relate to the company’s promotion of Paxil and Wellbutrin.

Prosecutors said the company paid doctors to attend conferences and other meetings to promote uses for the drugs that were not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/f/food_and_drug_administration/index.html?inline=nyt-org). The company illegally promoted the use of Paxil in children and, in the case of Wellbutrin, marketed it for weight loss and sexual dysfunction when it was approved only to treat major depressive disorder.
The third criminal charge involves Avandia, a diabetes drug whose use was severely restricted in 2010 (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/24/health/policy/24avandia.html?_r=1) after it was linked to heart risks. Prosecutors said the company failed to report those risks to the F.D.A.

[iOWNme]

According to Wiki they generted $27 Billion in 2011....

And guess what? The people who made the call to move forward with illegally promoting and fraudulent data will get to keep their hundreds of Million$......While the shareholders pay the so called 'fine'. And guess what Government does with the money from the fine? They give it back to these mega Corporations through tax incentives, Government contracts and subsidies, and 'bailoouts'........Lovely, isnt it?

[willie pete]

$3 billion is no more than a very small inconvenience to them, it's really disgusting

[Hatha Sunahara]

Their profit margin on most of their prescription drugs is in the 1000% range. There is a table in Jim Marrs Trillion Dollar Conspiracy book that shows the profit margin on a lot of big sellers they have, and it is obscene.


Hatha

[Old Herb Lady]

The part that I don't understand how "paying a fine" (slap on wrist) is justifiable for all the DAMAGE & DEATH they've caused.

I found this article interesting, too. More & more info comes out constantly about the goings-on of these drug companies:

Argentina fines drug company over vaccine trial



January 03, 2012|From Javier Doberti, CNN


A medical group in Argentina is asking for more drug-testing regulations in the South American country after a officials fined pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline for alleged irregularities in a pediatric pneumonia vaccine trial.
The Argentinian Federation of Health Professionals accuses drug maker GlaxoSmithKline of misleading participants and pressuring poor families into joining a trial for the Synflorix vaccine, which the company says protects against bacterial pneumonia and meningitis.
"They recruited children in an irregular manner. ... They did not do what they were supposed to. They did not inform. There were not independent witnesses.
They pressured the mothers of poor children," said Jorge Yabkowsky, the federation's director.



But GlaxoSmithKline, the world's second largest pharmaceutical company, denies those accusations and says it will appeal a judge's approval of Argentina's National Administration of Medicine, Food and Medical Technology's fining the company and two doctors a total of nearly $240,000 for irregularities in documentation of the trial.
In a statement, GlaxoSmithKline said it conducts clinical studies all over the world, respecting laws and meeting the highest standards of ethics and quality.
"The ruling has to do with procedures, with the form of documenting procedures of the studies. ... None of the patients that were included in this study were included without their appropriate consent," said Rosana Felice, medical director of Glaxo Argentina.
Felice said official investigations by Argentina's drug administration, known as ANMAT, and ethics reviews have not turned up any irregularities in the vaccine's safety.

GlaxoSmithKline's statement said there are no cases alleging fraud or corruption in the study.
The deaths of 14 children who reportedly died after participating in the trials, have drawn widespread attention in Argentinian media. Their deaths are under investigation, but there has been no evidence linking deaths to the vaccine or irregularities in the studies.
Felice said GlaxoSmithKline categorically denies that the vaccine caused the deaths.

"In no case was it related to the administration of the vaccine, and this has been sufficiently demonstrated, proven and evaluated by ANMAT," Felice said.
But the health professional federation pointed to the children's deaths in its call for increased regulations on drug testing.
The trial included 24,000 children, Felice said, including 14,000 children in Argentina and 10,000 others in Colombia and Panama.
The Synflorix vaccine has been approved by regulatory agencies in more than 85 countries, based on more than 40 clinical studies, GlaxoSmithKline said.

[Down1]

'Dr. Drew' Was Paid by Glaxo
Radio Host Extolled Virtues of Antidepressant After Attending Events for Firm
In June 1999, popular radio personality Dr. Drew Pinsky used the airwaves to extol the virtues of GlaxoSmithKline PLC's antidepressant Wellbutrin, telling listeners he prescribes it and other medications to depressed patients because it "may enhance or at least not suppress sexual arousal" as much as other antidepressants do.

But one thing listeners didn't know was that, two months before the program aired, Dr. Pinsky—who gained fame as "Dr. Drew" during years co-hosting a popular radio sex-advice show, "Loveline,"—received the second of two payments from Glaxo totaling $275,000 for "services for Wellbutrin."

The payments, made by a communications firm working for Glaxo, are revealed in an attachment to a complaint the U.S. government filed in October 2011 in federal court in the District of Massachusetts. The documents were disclosed this week as the U.S. Justice Department announced a $3 billion criminal and civil settlement with Glaxo over illegal drug marketing and other matters.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/dr-drew-paid-glaxo-225700871.html

[iOWNme]

Was there REALLY anyone who thought Dr Drew was an actual real Dr?

Oh, wait, when you live in Tee Vee land in suspended animation, illusions become reality.......