GlaxoKline Fined $3bn for Healthcare Fraud : Information Clearing House

July 9, 2012

This is how they avoid CRIMINAL charges...

GlaxoKline has agreed to plead guilty to misdemeanour criminal charges and

pay $3bn to settle what government officials describe as the largest case of

healthcare fraud in US history.

The agreement, which still needs court approval, would resolve allegations that

the British drug maker broke US laws in the marketing and development of

pharmaceuticals. The terms of the settlement were announced in November.

GSK targeted the antidepressant Paxil at patients under age 18 when it was

approved only for adults, and promoted the drug Wellbutrin for uses it was not

approved for, including weight loss and treatment of sexual dysfunction,

according to a US justice department investigation.

The company went to extreme lengths to promote the drugs, such as distributing a

misleading medical journal article and providing doctors with meals and spa

treatments that amounted to illegal kickbacks, prosecutors said.

" The sales force bribed physicians to prescribe GSK products using every

imaginable form of high-priced entertainment, from Hawaiian vacations [and]

paying doctors millions of dollars to go on speaking tours, to tickets to

Madonna concerts, " said US attorney Carmin Ortiz.

In a third case, GSK failed to give the US Food and Drug Administration safety

data about its diabetes drug Avandia, in violation of US law, prosecutors said.

The misconduct began in the late 1990s and continued, in the case of Avandia's

safety data, through to 2007. GSK agreed to plead guilty to three misdemeanour

criminal counts, one each related to the three drugs.

Guilty pleas in cases of alleged corporate misconduct are exceedingly rare,

making GSK's agreement especially unusual.

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