Glaxosmithkline Case Study Essay

Many of these companies fraudulently market their drugs to children yet their worst case scenario is a fine by the DOJ. Consider the case of GlaxoSmithKline. In 2012 they were issued the largest fine ever for a drug company, $3 billion. However, the actions by GlaxoSmithKline warranted criminal prosecutions, not fines. GlaxoSmithKline illegally marketed their antidepressant drug, Paxil, to children while not revealing studies that demonstrated that Paxil ineffectively treated childhood depression. In fact, the FDA never even approved Paxil for child prescriptions, but many doctors did so anyway. Seemingly, those doctors were breaking the law, but that isn’t the case; they are allowed to use their discretion. As a result of that loophole, the drug companies have created a massive gray market of “off-label” marketing, i.e. prescriptions for drugs that don’t match their approved uses. It’s estimated that about 15 percent of all drug sales in the U.S., as many as 10 million prescriptions annually, are not for their approved uses.
The DOJ’s investigation into GlaxoSmithKline revealed that the company had many doctors on their payroll, including the popular TV personality

After all, doctors are routinely wined and dined with gourmet meals by their sales reps. Plus, you may be familiar with the expression that you will never meet an ugly pharma sales rep. If not, these companies are notorious for hiring gorgeous, young female sales reps to appeal to an industry of doctors who are mostly middle-aged or older males. That compounds a number of other ethical issues that emerge when drug companies pay doctors. To be fair, drug companies can’t pay direct commissions for prescribing their drugs, but they can pay them to be “spokespersons.” GlaxoSmithKline can longer pay doctors to promote their drugs, as a result of their scandal, but nearly all major drug companies still do