But there is more to this story. Novartis, as Preet Bharara, the US Attorney in Manhattan points out, Novartis is a repeat offender. He was referring to a case three years ago in which Novartis paid $422.5 million in penalties and pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor to resolve criminal allegations for improperly promoting its Trileptal epilepsy med and several other drugs (see this). As a result of that settlement, the drugmaker signed a Corporate Integrity Agreement, which required establishing an internal compliance program and reporting violations, among other things (read more here). The CIA was signed in September 2010, yet both lawsuits allege various infractions occurred afterwards.
Needs more prosecutions. I’m all for revoking their drug selling ability and auctioning off any patents for important drugs to more reputable companies….yea..reputable drug manufacturers…good luck there.
For anyone wondering about the high cost of healthcare in the U.S., this is one off the main scams.
Robot Pirate Ninja 