davieG Posted 3 July 2012 Posted 3 July 2012 GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is to pay $3bn (£1.9bn) in the largest healthcare fraud settlement in US history. The drug giant is to plead guilty to promoting two drugs for unapproved uses and failing to report safety data about a diabetes drug to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The settlement will cover criminal fines as well as civil settlements with the federal and state governments. The case concerns the drugs Paxil, Wellbutrin and Avandia. Deputy US Attorney General James Cole told a news conference in Washington DC that the settlement was "unprecedented in both size and scope". Doctors bribed GSK, one of the world's largest healthcare and pharmaceuticals companies, admitted to promoting antidepressants Paxil and Wellbutrin for unapproved uses, including treatment of children and adolescents. The illegal practice is known as off-label marketing. The company also conceded charges that it held back data and made unsupported safety claims over its diabetes drug Avandia. In addition, GSK has been found guilty of paying kickbacks to doctors. "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. As part of the settlement, GSK agreed to be monitored by government officials for five years. GSK said in a statement it would pay the fines through existing cash resources. Andrew Witty, the firm's chief executive, said procedures for compliance, marketing and selling had been changed at GSK's US unit. "We have learnt from the mistakes that were made," Mr Witty said. "When necessary, we have removed employees who have engaged in misconduct."
Webbo Posted 3 July 2012 Posted 3 July 2012 Crime and corruption is not a new invention, it's been going on for centuries. Those who have been caught have or will be punished, as long as the case can be proved. We seem to be going through a phase of moral panic at the minute.
Bellend Sebastian Posted 3 July 2012 Posted 3 July 2012 I know I've posted this before, but it's a good time to roll this one out again I reckon: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/owss-beef-wall-street-isnt-winning-its-cheating-20111025
Captain... Posted 3 July 2012 Posted 3 July 2012 What do you expect when companies start putting monetary values on human life, it is a common practice when assessing the risk of say releasing a dangerous drug or a new car which you find a fault in, they assess the likelihood of someone dying how much it would cost them, and how much it would cost to not release the drug/car/something. The world is so obsessed with money it is getting out of hand, and the drugs industry in America is one of the most corrupt and powerful, I hoped the social healthcare Obama was bringing in would put paid to some of their practices, but it looks like it hasn't yet. @Webbo, yes crime has been happening all through the ages, but it doesn't make it right, and it doesn't we should stop being shocked and appalled by the way companies gamble with human life in the name of profit.
Webbo Posted 3 July 2012 Posted 3 July 2012 @Webbo, yes crime has been happening all through the ages, but it doesn't make it right, and it doesn't we should stop being shocked and appalled by the way companies gamble with human life in the name of profit. I never said it was right and that's why this company have been fined $3billion. The title of this thread was "can anyone be trusted?" which is obviously an over reaction.
Captain... Posted 3 July 2012 Posted 3 July 2012 I never said it was right and that's why this company have been fined $3billion. The title of this thread was "can anyone be trusted?" which is obviously an over reaction. Is it an overreaction? The banks have proved they can't be trusted, so have the politicians (both sets), the press, now the drugs industry is showing how corrupt it is. Even the comedians are tax dodgers, it's a sad day when you can't even trust a comedian.
Guest Posted 3 July 2012 Posted 3 July 2012 No-one should be trusted. How can any of you have lived as long as you have and not realise that?
Webbo Posted 3 July 2012 Posted 3 July 2012 Is it an overreaction? The banks have proved they can't be trusted, so have the politicians (both sets), the press, now the drugs industry is showing how corrupt it is. Even the comedians are tax dodgers, it's a sad day when you can't even trust a comedian. So not one person can be trusted?
Webbo Posted 3 July 2012 Posted 3 July 2012 Not even your wife. How do I know you're not lying to me?
Bellend Sebastian Posted 3 July 2012 Posted 3 July 2012 So not one person can be trusted? No-one! Except me, obviously
Guest Posted 3 July 2012 Posted 3 July 2012 How do I know you're not lying to me? you don't, you shouldn't trust me but it is impossible for everyone to lie all of the time (unless they've lost their legs of course).
Captain... Posted 3 July 2012 Posted 3 July 2012 So not one person can be trusted? To be honest if they have any position of power or influence, then probably not, of course there are people in your life that you learn to trust or have reason to trust, but of course you know that. Like you also know the original article and topic title was not referring to that.
Guest Posted 3 July 2012 Posted 3 July 2012 To be honest if they have any position of power or influence, then probably not, of course there are people in your life that you learn to trust or have reason to trust, but of course you know that. Like you also know the original article and topic title was not referring to that. Maybe you can trust somebody (a number of people). Maybe you can trust them ALL of the time, but can everybody trust those people ALL of the time in ALL situations?
Trav Le Bleu Posted 3 July 2012 Posted 3 July 2012 No-one! Except me, obviously What about Foxy Peter?
Trav Le Bleu Posted 3 July 2012 Posted 3 July 2012 Trust your own instincts. Then do the opposite. Use the force.
Bellend Sebastian Posted 3 July 2012 Posted 3 July 2012 What about Foxy Peter? How could I forget? If you're going to trust just one individual, it should be him. Where has he got to? I'll see if I can track him down
davieG Posted 3 July 2012 Author Posted 3 July 2012 I never said it was right and that's why this company have been fined $3billion. The title of this thread was "can anyone be trusted?" which is obviously an over reaction. How is it an over reaction to ask a question, if I'd put no one can be trusted you might have point.
Webbo Posted 3 July 2012 Posted 3 July 2012 How is it an over reaction to ask a question, if I'd put no one can be trusted you might have point. Nothing personal against you Davie. It just seems to me that people, possibly prompted by the papers are trying to connect individual cases of wrong doing. bank rate rigging, tax avoidance and now some drug company in America as proof that we're all going to hell in a handcart. Or that there has been a dramatic decline in morals over the last decade/decades. I just don't believe it. People who break the law should be punished but don't tar everyone else with the same brush.
21st Century Fox Posted 3 July 2012 Posted 3 July 2012 I wouldn't say it was an over reaction. Maybe trust is a strong word, we knowingly or unwittingly place a lot of faith in people. When you take medicine you take it on faith that it's safe, when you put money in a bank you take it on faith that it's safe, yet the people who pull the strings and have vast control over the way we live our lives consistently let us down. I'm not referring to some El Empty-esque Illuminati, I mean the guy who fudges the accounts to make even more money or turns a blind eye to a safety check to turn a profit without a thought for who that affects down the line.
davieG Posted 3 July 2012 Author Posted 3 July 2012 I wouldn't say it was an over reaction. Maybe trust is a strong word, we knowingly or unwittingly place a lot of faith in people. When you take medicine you take it on faith that it's safe, when you put money in a bank you take it on faith that it's safe, yet the people who pull the strings and have vast control over the way we live our lives consistently let us down. I'm not referring to some El Empty-esque Illuminati, I mean the guy who fudges the accounts to make even more money or turns a blind eye to a safety check to turn a profit without a thought for who that affects down the line. And so many of those involved seem to already have more money than they could spend in a lifetime, it's just pure greed and power and not only that they get away with no direct/personal punishment. E.g Mr Diamond is one of the UK's highest paid chief executives, earning £20m last year, the details of any severance package are not yet known, but former City minister Lord Myners suggests it could add up to £20m-£30m.
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