Drug giant GlaxoSmithKline has agreed to plead guilty and pay $3B in fines and restitution in response to
multiple federal charges of marketing deception and product safety violations. Theirs will be the largest federal penalty ever paid by a pharmaceutical company.
Today's multibillion-dollar settlement is unprecedented in both size and scope,'' Deputy Attorney General James Cole said. "At every level, we are determined to stop practices that jeopardize patients' health, harm taxpayers, and violate the public trust - and this historic action is a clear warning to any company that chooses to break the law." Prosecutors said GlaxoSmithKline illegally promoted the drug Paxil for treating depression in children from April 1998 to August 2003, even though the FDA never approved it for anyone under age 18. The corporation also promoted the drug Wellbutrin from January 1999 to December 2003 for weight loss, the treatment of sexual dysfunction, substance addictions and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, although it was only approved for treatment of major depressive disorder. GlaxoSmithKline CEO Sir Andrew Witty expressed regret and said they have learned "from the mistakes that were made."
GSK's sales force was also accused of bribing physicians to prescribe their products, dangling perks as wide-ranging as luxury vacations and tickets to Madonna concerts.
Labels: FDA, feds, marketing, pharma
Drug giant GlaxoSmithKline has agreed to plead guilty and pay $3B in fines and restitution in response to multiple federal charges of marketing deception and product safety violations. Theirs will be the largest federal penalty ever paid by a pharmaceutical company. 
