GlaxoSmithKline Agrees to Pay $750 Settlement as the Cost of Doing Business

 

Sent: Tue, Oct 26, 2010 12:05 pm
Subject: News Alert: GlaxoSmithKline Agrees to Pay $750 Million in Settlement

Breaking News Alert
The New York Times
Tue, October 26, 2010 -- 3:04 PM ET
-----

GlaxoSmithKline Agrees to Pay $750 Million to Settle Manufacturing Complaints

GlaxoSmithKline, the British drug giant, has agreed to pay
$750 million to settle criminal and civil complaints that the
company for years knowingly sold contaminated baby ointment
and an ineffective antidepressant -- the latest in growing
number of whistle-blower lawsuits that drug makers have
settled with multimillion dollar fines.

Altogether, GlaxoSmithKline sold 20 drugs with questionable
safety that were made at a huge plant in Puerto Rico that for
years was rife with contamination. Cheryl Eckard, the
company's quality manager, asserts in her whistle-blower suit
that she warned Glaxo of the problems but the company fired
her instead of addressing the issues. Among the drugs
affected were Avandia, Bactroban, Coreg, Paxil and Tagamet.
No patients are known to have been sickened by the quality
problems although such cases would be difficult to trace.

Read More:
http://www.nytimes.com/?emc=na

 

Is this merely the cost of doing business? Most likely, like the campaign contributions
 this company will most likely give to Max Baucus, it will be a mere trifle, a cost of 
doing business, like a subway fare or a bus token to a street vendor... 
UNLESS you let the world know about it.  So please do. Also see http://www.opensecrets.org/ for more 
data on the $4 million in campaign contributions that Senator Max Baucus (D-Montana)
gets from the healthcare industry. Senator Baucus is chair of the Senate Finance Committee
whose version of the healthcare reform bill was largely adopted into law.