You're watching...
FBN’s Gerri Willis on GlaxoSmithKline’s fine for marketing drugs for uses they were not approved for.
Also in this playlist...
Auto-advance: ON
Auto-advance
This transcript is automatically generated
The British drug company GlaxoSmithKline.
Today pled guilty to the largest health care fraud in US history.
It was also hit with the biggest fine ever three billion dollars.
The Justice Department sued the company for fraud for the way -- marketed some of its biggest prescription drugs like -- all -- a banding yet.
The government's investigation was nationwide and involves several agencies including the FBI.
The prosecutors said the company paid doctors to attend the lavish conferences including spots sessions to promote uses for its drugs.
Uses by the way that were not approved by the FDA so called off labeling and -- branding.
For example -- -- illegally promoted the use of the anti depressant Paxil for kids children.
While the drug is only approved for adults it also pled guilty to marketing another anti depressant well do you trend as a weight loss drug.
It even push it is a cure for erectile dysfunction.
The government said Glaxo sales reps Caldwell -- trend the happy -- skinny -- no kidding.
And even when the company got the drug writing got it wrong the government accused Glaxo of failing to report to risks of its diabetes drug abandon the -- The risk being that it can kill you.
The company was also accused of going too extreme likes to push its pills including producing bogus studies.
Putting together sham advisory boards and paying millions of dollars in kickbacks to doctors to write prescriptions.
Glaxo was also found guilty of ripping up Medicaid and that's another one of the reasons drug companies have become prime targets for federal prosecutors.
Glaxo has promised to change its weights and I hope so.
It certainly discouraging when a company which proclaims its strategy is to help all of us do more feel better live longer.
Sheets and -- to sell its products.
This isn't the old world health care it's the new one and it leads to a question if pharmaceutical companies had a fraud problem before Obama care.
How bad will be after the rest of the new health care laws implemented.
Because let's face it if there's any fraud problem in health -- today it's the billions that are stolen out of Medicare and Medicaid every single year.
More government and government like programs more rip offs of tax dollars that's my.
