I mentioned
here that GSK has a history of dishonesty. They obscured safety data on Avandia that put their patients at risk. They produce an antidepressant that spawns a book called "Side Effect", A Prosecutor, A Whistleblower, and A Best Selling Antidepressant on Trial. They pay three billion dollar fines from sales and marketing practices from the asthma drug Advair and other drugs. In this post I asked the question, "What kind of an evil organization are we dealing with here?"
China Probes Staff of GlaxoSmithKline After Corruption Claims Aired
Corruption is rampant in China’s health system, according to industry insiders. Public hospital budgets depend on commissions from the sale of medicines and doctors’ low salaries are supplemented by payments from patients and kickbacks from equipment and drug suppliers.
Corruption is rampant in GSKs sales and marketing department. We've established that fact with the $3 billion fine. Some things never change.
The whistleblower’s allegations, according to The Wall Street Journal, which broke the story, included claims about fees paid to doctors, both in kind and cash, and all-expense trips. The quid pro quo was prescription of Glaxo-supplied drugs.
Who are the men and women behind the curtains that make The Great Wizard of GSK such a dishonest entity? While I think it would be a good idea to put them in jail and air their names so the consumers know who the bad guys are, I fear that the rest of the industry giants will end up standing at the prison gates when these guys get out of jail. They'll shuffle them off in limousines to corner offices in tall buildings throughout the world to seek new grifts.
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