Getnick & Getnick Wins $750 Million Settlement for GlaxoSmithKline Medicaid Fraud
In a groundbreaking case, the first time the whistleblower law was used to hold drug makers accountable for violations of government manufacturing standards, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) will pay $750 million to settle civil and criminal charges that it manufactured and sold adulterated drugs to Medicaid and other government health plans. This settlement is a result of a 2004 lawsuit filed by Getnick & Getnick LLP on behalf of Cheryl Eckard, a former Quality Assurance Manager with GlaxoSmithKline.
GSK will pay $600 million to settle civil charges that they sold Bactroban ointment, a topical antibiotic used to treat skin infections in babies, which contained microorganisms, as well as Kytril injection, an anti-nausea drug for cancer patients, which wasn’t sterile. In addition, they released tablets of the anti-depressant Paxil CR that lacked the active ingredient, and of the diabetes drug Avandia, which were superpotent and subpotent. The pharmaceutical firm also paid a criminal fine of $150 million.
According to Neil Getnick, managing partner of the law firm, this landmark whistleblower lawsuit will “change the way that drug companies run their factories” by giving employees another option if they have evidence that management is putting profits ahead of patient safety by letting bad products out the door.”