Largest health fraud: Glaxo pays $3 bn

The agreement, which still needs court approval, would resolve allegations that the UK drugmaker broke US laws in marketing of several pharmaceuticals.

GSK targeted the antidepressant Paxil to patients under age 18 when it was approved for adults only, and it pushed the drug Wellbutrin for uses it was not approved for, including weight loss and treatment of sexual dysfunction, according to an investigation led by the US Justice Department.

The company went to extreme lengths to promote the drugs, such as distributing a misleading medical journal article and providing doctors with meals and spa treatments that amounted to illegal kickbacks, prosecutors said.

In a third instance, GSK failed to give the US Food and Drug Administration safety data about its diabetes drug Avandia, in violation of US law, prosecutors said.

The misconduct continued for years beginning in the late 1990s and continued, in the case of Avandia’s safety data, through 2007. GSK agreed to plead guilty to three misdemeanour criminal counts, one each related to the three drugs.

The agreement to settle the charges is unprecedented in both size and scope, said James Cole, the No. 2 official at the US Justice Department. He called the action historic and a clear warning to any company that chooses to break the law.

The settlement marks the largest payment ever by a drug company,

... contd.