Glaxo, states in $40.75m settlement
British drug maker GlaxoSmithKline PLC said yesterday that it has reached a $40.75 million settlement with 37 states for selling substandard antidepressants and other medicines produced at its former Puerto Rico factory during the last decade.
The settlement divides the money among those states and the District of Columbia. They filed complaints against the company under their consumer protection laws after a $750 million criminal and civil settlement with the federal government in October.
Both settlements involve production of adulterated, or substandard, products made from 2001 through 2005 at a factory in Cidra, Puerto Rico. Those included antidepressant Paxil CR, anti-infection ointment Bactroban, sterile antinausea medication Kytril, and combination Type 2 diabetes pill Avandamet.
The federal criminal complaint alleged that the company did not ensure Kytril and Bactroban weren’t contaminated by microorganisms, that tablets may have contained too much or too little of the active ingredient, and that drugs of different types or strengths were mixed together in bottles.
Oregon and Illinois took the lead in the case.
GlaxoSmithKline admitted no wrongdoing.
