GlaxoSmithKline to pay $3B for health fraud

By LINDA A. JOHNSON

AP Business Writer / July 5, 2012

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Prior to the Glaxo settlement, the record-setting case involved Pfizer Inc., the world’s biggest drugmaker. It paid the government $2.3 billion in 2009 in criminal and civil fines for improperly marketing 13 different drugs, including erectile-dysfunction drug Viagra and cholesterol fighter Lipitor, the top-selling drug in the world for years. Pfizer was accused of encouraging doctors to prescribe its drugs with free golf, massages and junkets to posh resorts.

‘‘For far too long, we have heard that the pharmaceutical industry views these settlements merely as the cost of doing business,’’ said Acting Assistant Attorney General Stuart F. Delery, head of Justice’s civil division. ‘‘Today’s resolution seeks not only to punish wrongdoing and recover taxpayer dollars, but to ensure GSK’s future compliance with the law.’’

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Associated Press writer Jesse J. Holland in Washington contributed to this story.

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Linda A. Johnson can be followed at http://twitter.com/LindaJ_onPharma