News (Media Awareness Project) - UK: Drugs Company Suspected Of Bribing Doctors |
| Title: | UK: Drugs Company Suspected Of Bribing Doctors |
| Published On: | 2002-03-12 |
| Source: | Independent (UK) |
| Fetched On: | 2008-01-24 18:04:17 |
DRUGS COMPANY SUSPECTED OF BRIBING DOCTORS
German prosecutors said yesterday that they suspected the British drugs
company GlaxoSmithKline of paying bribes and perks to about 4,000 doctors.
Hospital doctors had been given cash sums ranging from (GM)50 to (GM)25,000
(UKP30 to UKP15,500) as well as Formula One and 1998 World Cup tickets in
France, prosecutors said.
Manfred Wick, Munich's chief prosecutor, said the payments made by Glaxo,
which has since merged with SmithKline Beecham, had led to suspicions of
bribery and tax evasion.
Mr Wick said a majority of individual cases had been dropped because of the
small sums involved. But 100 cases against German doctors and 380 involving
SmithKline employees were still being pursued.
The drugs firm, which became Europe's biggest through the merger in 2000,
said it was co-operating fully with the German inquiry. It said the
accusations related mainly to the period from 1997 to 1999. Since then the
company has been restructured.
The allegations, on the same day that its chairman, Sir Richard Sykes,
announced he was to step down after a nine-year tenure, mark the latest bad
news for the company in the past fortnight.
A survey, by Labour Research, showed that Sir Richard would probably
receive a pension payout of UKP657,000 a year, while staff joining the
company could no longer join the group's final salary pension scheme. News
of his resignation did not affect the company's share price, which was up
0.1 per cent to UKP17.20 during afternoon trading on the Stock Exchange.
The company said last night that it had previously offered the principal
prosecutor in Munich "active support". In a statement, the company said:
"GlaxoSmithKline places tremendous worth on an uncompromising explanation
of the course of events.
"According to what we have already discovered, the accusations encompass
the time period of 1997 to 1999. The company has been newly restructured
through the merger of Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKlineBeecham and many
positions have been newly defined and filled; responsibilities have changed."
German prosecutors said yesterday that they suspected the British drugs
company GlaxoSmithKline of paying bribes and perks to about 4,000 doctors.
Hospital doctors had been given cash sums ranging from (GM)50 to (GM)25,000
(UKP30 to UKP15,500) as well as Formula One and 1998 World Cup tickets in
France, prosecutors said.
Manfred Wick, Munich's chief prosecutor, said the payments made by Glaxo,
which has since merged with SmithKline Beecham, had led to suspicions of
bribery and tax evasion.
Mr Wick said a majority of individual cases had been dropped because of the
small sums involved. But 100 cases against German doctors and 380 involving
SmithKline employees were still being pursued.
The drugs firm, which became Europe's biggest through the merger in 2000,
said it was co-operating fully with the German inquiry. It said the
accusations related mainly to the period from 1997 to 1999. Since then the
company has been restructured.
The allegations, on the same day that its chairman, Sir Richard Sykes,
announced he was to step down after a nine-year tenure, mark the latest bad
news for the company in the past fortnight.
A survey, by Labour Research, showed that Sir Richard would probably
receive a pension payout of UKP657,000 a year, while staff joining the
company could no longer join the group's final salary pension scheme. News
of his resignation did not affect the company's share price, which was up
0.1 per cent to UKP17.20 during afternoon trading on the Stock Exchange.
The company said last night that it had previously offered the principal
prosecutor in Munich "active support". In a statement, the company said:
"GlaxoSmithKline places tremendous worth on an uncompromising explanation
of the course of events.
"According to what we have already discovered, the accusations encompass
the time period of 1997 to 1999. The company has been newly restructured
through the merger of Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKlineBeecham and many
positions have been newly defined and filled; responsibilities have changed."
Member Comments |
No member comments available...
