Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Trusting the Medical System? Corruption spotted again

"Along with U.S. rivals Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson, GSK[, UK pharmaceutical maker called GlaxoSmithKline,] settled American bribery cases. It is all too easy for these makers of high-margin products to share some of the revenue with the doctors who write prescriptions...
The Chinese authorities have gone beyond fuming. The Ministry of Public Security accused GSK of transferring up to 3 billion yuan ($489 million) of kickbacks to over 700 travel agencies and consultancies. The goal was to increase market share in a pharmaceutical market worth $181 billion last year... 
A full Chinese pharma recovery will be hard to manage. To start, the country is addicted to kickbacks and China’s doctors, who are underpaid relative to equally skilled professionals, may consider largesse from drug companies a merited bonus..."

Excerpts from REUTERS article: GSK finds toxic side effects in Chinese market.

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