Friday, October 29, 2010

State of Connecticut Medicaid Program to Receive Part of GSK Settlement

GlaxoSmithKline will pay Connecticut $1.72 million as part of a larger nationwide settlement related to selling tainted, sub-standard and defective prescription drugs.

Related to a post earlier this week regarding GSK's huge financial settlement, the money will be paid to Connecticut's Medicaid program as a small fraction of a $750 million overall settlement.

"GlaxoSmithKline's dumping of defective drugs on Connecticut Medicaid recipients is shocking and shameful," said Attorney General Richard Blumenthal. "Such a massive failure to follow formulation and sanitation standards is unacceptable and inexplicable. The company endangered patient health -- and pumped up profits -- by providing tainted tablets."

GlaxoSmithKline allegedly sold four drugs to Medicaid that were contaminated at the company's plant in Cidra, Puerto Rico. Those drugs were:

-Paxil CR, an antidepressant that had either no active ingredient or only the active ingredient without the controlled-release aspects of the pill.

-Avandament, a diabetes medication that had too much or too little of the active ingredient.

-Kytil, an anti-nausea drug that had some impurities.

-Bactroban, antibiotic ointments and creams that contained microorganisms.

The company's head of global litigation, Elpidio Villarreal, said, "We regret that we operated the Cidra facility in a manner that was inconsistent with current Good Manufacturing Practice requirements and with GSK's commitment to manufacturing quality. GSK worked hard to resolve fully the manufacturing issues at the Cidra facility prior to its closure in 2009 and we are committed to continuous improvement in our manufacturing processes."

Secure Pharma Chain is noticing an influx of quality control or poor manufacturing issues that are not just related to overseas contract manufacturing.

The dangers that these incidents pose to consumers all over the globe are serious and significant.

It is important that all members of the pharmaceutical supply chain authenticate and verify the quality and efficacy of their inventories to avoid liability and to protect their individual brands.

To learn more about pharmaceutical authentication technologies, visit: http://www.xstreamsystems.net/.

1 comment:

Daniel Haszard said...

Glaxo whistle-blower gets $96 million.


The deal with Zyprexa is that Eli Lilly pleaded guilty to criminal wrongs ("viva Zyprexa" campaign) the Zyprexa saga was rotten through and through.
Eight Lilly EMPLOYEES got millions each as supposed informant 'whistle blowers'.Lawyers on BOTH sides got millions and millions......most patient claimants who got sick are 'mentally challenged' and less able to advocate for themselves.
The Class action Lawsuits in the US had payouts of $85,000 BUT the lawyers got 45 percent and then the govt got most of the rest for having to take care of the victim/patients medical expenses.Soooo,,,,$85K turned into about $9,000 for Zyprexa claimants many had their food stamps and other state benefits taken away because of their *windfall profit* making them worse off in the end.
*
Daniel Haszard Zyprexa victim activist and patient who got diabetes from it. http://www.zyprexa-victims.com