AstraZeneca To Pay $5.5M In Bribery Probe
The SEC says AstraZenca employees “designed and authorized several schemes” to convey gifts, conference expenses, travel and cash, among other things, in order to encourage doctors in China and Russia to purchase the company's drugs.
The Wall Street Journal:
AstraZeneca Agrees To Pay $5.5 Million To Settle Alleged Bribery Probe
U.S. regulators said AstraZeneca PLC had agreed to pay $5.5 million to settle an investigation into alleged bribery at the drugmaker’s Chinese and Russian units. The Securities and Exchange Commission alleged that staff there made payments and gave gifts and other benefits to state-employed health-care workers, such as doctors, in return for increased prescriptions, as far back as 2005. (Roland, 8/31)
Stat:
AstraZeneca To Pay $5.5 Million For Bribing Doctors In China And Russia
AstraZeneca agreed to pay $5.5 million to settle charges of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, making it the latest global drug maker to face such accusations as part of a long-running probe by US authorities into companies that paid bribes in order to boost sales of their medicines. In this instance, the company had been accused of making improper payments to health care providers in Russia and China, according to a cease-and-desist order released Tuesday by the US Securities and Exchange Commission. (Silverman, 8/31)
