Article archive / August 1, 2012
Originally published: . Volume 3, No. 12. Source pages: 9.
GlaxoSmithKline To Pay Largest Fraud Settlement Yet Challenges La Attorney General’s 2011 Lawsuit
GlaxoSmithKline agreed to pay $3 billion in fines and to plead guilty to criminal charges for promoting its top selling antidepressants for improper uses, improper marketing of drugs, and for hiding safety data about their diabetes drug, according to the New York Times report of announcements by federal prosecutors in July.
The settlement involved illegal marketing of Paxil , Wellbutrin, and Avandia, and adds to the list of large recent settlements with pharmaceutical companies.
Other settlements include Abbott Laboratories settled for $1.6 billion over the marketing of Depakote and Johnson & Johnson who could pay $2 billion for improper marketing of the antipsychotic drug Risperdal, noted the report.
Past settlements also include $2.3 billion Pfizer fine for marketing of a painkiller drug and Eli Lilly’s $1.4 billion settlement for Zyprexa, according to Bloombery Business.
Bloombery noted that at least 41 whistleblower complaints have been filed in U.S. federal fraud cases.
In June GlaxoSmithKline filed a suit against Louisiana’s Attorney General Buddy Caldwell, which challenges a lawsuit the Attorney General had filed in 2011 against Glaxo. This according to Pharmalot’s reporter Ed Silverman.
The 2011 suit by Louisiana’s Attorney General charged that Glaxo knowingly and fraudulently marketed Avandia to Louisiana citizens causing harm and additional medical costs in the state’s Medicaid program. The state is asking $12.3 billion in damages.
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