State to receive $2M in drug settlement

Missouri is marked to receive $2.1 million as part of a $90 million consent judgment with pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline LLC of the United Kingdom.

The settlement resolves allegations that GSK unlawfully marketed Avandia, an antidiabetic drug. Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster and 36 other attorneys general alleged the company misrepresented the Avandia's cardiovascular risks and safety profile by claiming the drug had certain safety benefits for which GSK did not have scientific evidence, according to a news release.

“My office will continue to hold pharmaceutical companies accountable for misleading consumers and doctors,” Koster said in the release.

Under the consent judgment, GSK is prohibited from making false or misleading claims about any diabetes drug; making safety claims not supported by proper evidence or clinical experience; presenting favorable information that has been rendered invalid by more recent credible information; promoting investigational drugs; or misusing the statistics or nature of clinical trials.

The judgment also includes a number of provisions effective for at least eight years, largely consisting of making its analyses and clinical trials of drugs public and accountable, the release said.

In June 2011, Missouri received nearly $1 million as part of a 37-state settlement with GSK and one of its subsidiaries, SB Pharmco Puerto Rico. That settlement resolved claims that GSK and SB Pharmco engaged in unfair and deceptive practices when manufacturing and distributing certain batches of a number of drugs, including a controlled release version of antidepressant Paxil, according to Springfield Business Journal archives.[[In-content Ad]]