Tue May 27, 2014 2:48pm EDT
<span id="articleText"/> (Adds details on bribery allegations in China and other countries)
<span id="midArticle_0"/> LONDON May 27 (Reuters) - Britain's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has launched a formal criminal investigation into GlaxoSmithKline Plc, posing a new challenge to the drugmaker, which already faces allegations of bribery in China and elsewhere.
<span id="midArticle_1"/> Britain's biggest pharmaceuticals company said it had been informed on Tuesday that the SFO had "opened a formal criminal investigation into the group's commercial practices".
<span id="midArticle_2"/> GSK said it would cooperate fully but gave no further details in a brief statement. A company spokesman declined to elaborate.
<span id="midArticle_3"/> "GSK is committed to operating its business to the highest ethical standards," it added.
<span id="midArticle_4"/> Chinese police said on May 14 they had charged the former British boss of GSK's China business and other colleagues with corruption, after a probe found the company used an elaborate scheme to bribe doctors and hospitals.
<span id="midArticle_5"/> Authorities in China first accused GSK last July of funnelling up to 3 billion yuan ($480 million) in bribes to encourage doctors to use its medicines in a case that the company described in 2013 as "shameful".
<span id="midArticle_6"/> Since then allegations have surfaced in other countries. GSK has said it is investigating claims that bribes were also paid to doctors in Poland, Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon.
<span id="midArticle_7"/> ($1 = 6.2486 Chinese Yuan) (Reporting by Ben Hirschler and Andy Bruce, editing by David Milliken and David Evans)
<span id="midArticle_8"/>
<span id="articleText"/> (Adds details on bribery allegations in China and other countries)
<span id="midArticle_0"/> LONDON May 27 (Reuters) - Britain's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has launched a formal criminal investigation into GlaxoSmithKline Plc, posing a new challenge to the drugmaker, which already faces allegations of bribery in China and elsewhere.
<span id="midArticle_1"/> Britain's biggest pharmaceuticals company said it had been informed on Tuesday that the SFO had "opened a formal criminal investigation into the group's commercial practices".
<span id="midArticle_2"/> GSK said it would cooperate fully but gave no further details in a brief statement. A company spokesman declined to elaborate.
<span id="midArticle_3"/> "GSK is committed to operating its business to the highest ethical standards," it added.
<span id="midArticle_4"/> Chinese police said on May 14 they had charged the former British boss of GSK's China business and other colleagues with corruption, after a probe found the company used an elaborate scheme to bribe doctors and hospitals.
<span id="midArticle_5"/> Authorities in China first accused GSK last July of funnelling up to 3 billion yuan ($480 million) in bribes to encourage doctors to use its medicines in a case that the company described in 2013 as "shameful".
<span id="midArticle_6"/> Since then allegations have surfaced in other countries. GSK has said it is investigating claims that bribes were also paid to doctors in Poland, Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon.
<span id="midArticle_7"/> ($1 = 6.2486 Chinese Yuan) (Reporting by Ben Hirschler and Andy Bruce, editing by David Milliken and David Evans)
<span id="midArticle_8"/>
- Link this
- Share this
- Digg this
- Reprints
via Smart Health Shop Forum http://ift.tt/1phbMEn
No comments:
Post a Comment