GlaxoSmithKline Whistleblower: False-Claims Lawsuit Involving Common Medicines Including Avandia and Paxil
A few months ago, pharmaceutical maker GlaxoSmithKline agreed to compensate $750 million to resolve a U.S. federal government false-claims lawsuit over charges that the organization knowingly produced and offered adulterated medications. The affected medications involved in the suit involved the common antidepressant Paxil and the
type II diabetes medication Avandia
This 7 days, the whistleblower accountable for bringing to light the disturbing problems at a Glaxo plant, that resulted in the false-claims lawsuit, spoke out for the very first time on 60 minutes. In her interview, the former Glaxo global quality assurance manager, Cheryl Eckard, made public the obvious disregard shown by the company for the safety and quality of the products they manufacture.
Cheryl Eckard first learned of issues when she was sent to evaluate a Glaxo factory in Cidra, Puerto Rico and observed numerous production problems causing some drugs to become tainted, mislabeled, or incorrectly dosed. Eckard told 60 Minutes reporter Scott Pelley "All the systems were broken, the facility was in disrepair, the equipment was in disrepair, the processes were in poor condition. It was the worst thing I had run across in my career.
Eckard alleges that after eight months of reporting these problems without company reply, she made a chart for Glaxo executives displaying nine problem areas at the Cidra plant. The chart involved allegations that production issues at the plant were causing powerful prescription drugs to be mixed with each other in the same bottles.
In accordance with Eckard, her claims continued to be dismissed; and after a pharmacist reported a mix-up involving incorrectly labeled Paxil prescribed to an 8-year-old boy, the drug company filed a report with the FDA stating it was extremely unlikely that the drug mix-up occurred at Cidra. Cheryl Eckard was let go shortly after her letter to company executives detailing troubles at Cidra. After Eckard was fired, she brought her complaints to the FDA.
In 2005, Cidra was raided and Federal investigators mentioned that the conditions of the Glaxo factory were far from meeting public health standards. Cidra was shut down in 2009 and is no longer owned by GlaxoSmithKline.
Under the federal False Claims Act, whistleblowers like Eckard may be entitled to receive a portion of any money that the government recovers from the offenders. In order to receive a portion of the recovered money, the whistleblower must be the first to bring the case to the governments attention, and must not publicize the claim until the DOJ decides to prosecute the claim. Cheryl Eckard received a record $96 million from the settlement.
Whistleblower Lawsuits on the Rise
Dependant on consumer watchdog group Public Citizen, the pharmaceutical market has surpassed the defense industry to develop into the leading defrauder of the federal government. There have been 165 pharmaceutical industry settlements with the federal government over fraud charges in the very last 20 years and drug companies have paid out a total of $19.8 billion in Settlements; 73% of those cases, and 75% of that capital, have occurred in just the last 5 years. This boost in payments for fraud is likely due to both an increase in wrongdoing on the part of drug companies and better enforcement by the state and federal government. More than half of the pharmaceutical industrys penalties have been paid by just four companies: GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer, Eli Lilly and Schering-Plough.
A public citizen report showed that from 1991 to 2000, whistleblower lawsuits accounted for only 9% of federal fraud settlements, however, from 2001 through 2010, they accounted for 67%. Whistleblowers like Cheryl Eckerd are one of the only ways for the government, and the public, to find out about potentially disastrous problems like those at GlaxoSmithKline, that threaten the safety of widely prescribed drugs like Paxil and Avandia. Patient advocates hope that Cheryl Eckerd making her story public, as well as her generous reward, will encourage others to hold these pharmaceutical giants to the huge responsibilities they undertake when manufacturing medicines for the nation.
Avandia Lawsuits have been filed by many plaintiffs that suffered a variety of side effects of Avandia. Each
Avandia Lawsuitsfiled has added to the final settlement amount that GSK is likely to pay out to resolve suits that continue to be filed by
Avandia Lawyers at Parliman and Associates.
Most
Paxil Lawsuits have been ,
Paxil Birth Defect Lawsuits. Every
Paxil Birth Defect Lawsuit filed also adds to the future amount GSK will ultimately pay out to resolve all of the
Paxil Birth Defect Lawsuits it now faces. Numerous Paxil Lawyers, as they are often referred to by the public, expect to file future lawsuits on behalf of clients that have given birth to an infant with
Paxil Birth Defect Lawsuits. Parliman and Associates plans to represent clients
Paxil Birth Defect Lawsuits as long as the issue of
Paxil Birth Defect Lawsuitscontinues to exist.
