Avoiding what a jury might decide as justice, GlaxoSmithKline has agreed to settle both civil and criminal charges pending against it, to the tune of $750 million, after being caught red-handed selling substandard drugs to government health plans, including Medicaid.
In other words, poor people got the stuff that GlaxoSmithKline otherwise couldn’t sell — medications like Avandamet and Paxil.
Off the top, $150 Million will go as a criminal fee. A whopping $600,000,000 will be paid by GlaxoSmithKline in civil penalities.
And the former GSK employee who blew the whistle on what the company was doing? Whistleblower Cheryl Eckard will receive around $96 million of the civil settlement.
Congratulations to the brave Ms. Eckard — and if you are suspicious that the drugs you’ve received from a pharmacy or physician aren’t doing what they should, trust your gut and investigate. As this GSK admission reveals, just because those drugs come to you properly packaged and apparently reputable, doesn’t mean they’re safe.
The health of you and your loved ones depends upon it.
