GlaxoSmithKline reaches $3 billion settlement for fraud

Mitchell Hartman Jul 3, 2012
HTML EMBED:
COPY

GlaxoSmithKline reaches $3 billion settlement for fraud

Mitchell Hartman Jul 3, 2012
HTML EMBED:
COPY

David Brancaccio: Part two now of a developing theme of British companies in hot water ahead of America’s Independence Day. GlaxoSmithKline, the British drug maker, has agreed to plead guilty and pay $3 billion in criminal and civil penalties in the U.S.

Marketplace’s Mitchell Hartman reports.


Mitchell Hartman: The Justice Department says Glaxo engaged in fraudulent marketing of Paxil and Wellbutrin — both anti-depressants — and Avandia, a diabetes drug.

Glaxo’s sales force treated doctors to spa-and-ski junkets. Meanwhile, it was encouraging them to prescribe the anti-depressants to young people, when those drugs weren’t approved for use with non-adults by the FDA.

Bob Goldberg of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest says doctors prescribe drugs “off-label” all the time.

Bob Goldberg: Individual doctors are perfectly free to use these products as they see fit without the company coming in and making claims beyond what they’ve submitted to the FDA originally.

In the case of Avandia, Glaxo didn’t inform the FDA of crucial safety information. The drug now carries a warning about potential heart risk. The legal settlement must still be approved by a judge.

I’m Mitchell Hartman for Marketplace.

There’s a lot happening in the world.  Through it all, Marketplace is here for you. 

You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible. 

Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.