Pharmaceutical Giant GSK to Pay $3B in Largest-Ever Health Care Fraud Case
Healthcare giant GlaxoSmithKline has agreed to an unprecedented $3 billion settlement with the U.S. government over allegations that the company advertised drugs for uses not approved by the Food and Drug Administration and then used lavish gifts to convince doctors to prescribe the drugs.
The multi-billion dollar settlement is the largest in U.S. history for alleged healthcare fraud, government officials said.
In one instance, a drug was widely promoted to help treat depression even though the FDA had never tested it for such a use, according to the Department of Justice. In another, prosecutors said GlaxoSmithKline, or GSK, advertised the drug Paxil for use on children, despite the FDA not having approved antidepressant for anyone under 18. A notice posted on the website for the U.S. National Library of Medicine warned that a small number children to young adults taking Paroxetine -- which is sold under the brand name Paxil -- in clinical studies "became suicidal."
The government also said that GSK failed to report relevant safety information about the popular diabetes treatment Avandia to the FDA and even directly paid medical professionals to push the product on doctors for its alleged benefits for the heart -- even though GSK had no scientific data to back up that claim.
In all, GSK pleaded guilty to three criminal charges for which it will pay $1 billion and another $2 billion will be paid in civil liabilities under the False Claims Act.
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