GlaxoSmithKline, the UK's largest drug firm, is investigating claims that its staff in Jordan and Lebanon have bribed doctors.
The inquiry comes after separate allegations of unscrupulous behaviour by staff in China, Iraq and Poland, with the last two of those cases both emerging earlier this month.
"GSK can confirm we are investigating allegations regarding the activity of a small number of individuals in our operations in Jordan and Lebanon," the company said in statement.
"We started investigating using internal and external teams as soon as we became aware of these claims. These investigations have not yet concluded."
The crisis at GSK began last July in China, where authorities accused the company of funnelling up to 3bn yuan (£287m) to doctors and officials – as well as supplying them with sexual favours – in efforts to encourage them to use the group's medicines.
The case rocked the pharmaceuticals industry. GSK has admitted that some senior staff may have broken the law and that it is co-operating with investigators.
The company's reputation was hit again this month, with similar claims of wrongdoing in Iraq and Poland.
The company has launched an investigation of its Iraqi business, while Poland's Central Anti-Corruption Bureau said on Monday that 13 people had been charged in relation to allegations between 2010 and 2012, although GSK says it found evidence of misconduct by just a single Polish employee, who has been disciplined.
The company insists it does not have a systemic issue with unethical behaviour and says the 161 violations of its sales and marketing policies in 2013 was very similar to rates reported by other pharmaceutical companies.
It also says it is making moves to tighten its procedures and has stopped paying doctors to speak on its behalf and tying its sales force's pay to the number of prescriptions doctors write.
The latest allegations relating to Jordan and Lebanon were first reported in the Wall Street Journal, which cited emails from a person who first contacted GSK in December.
The paper said the emails allege that GSK sales representatives bribed doctors to prescribe drugs and vaccines by issuing free samples to doctors that they were allowed to sell on. Shares in GSK are trading 11% below their level last July, when the China scandal first emerged.
theguardian.com
The inquiry comes after separate allegations of unscrupulous behaviour by staff in China, Iraq and Poland, with the last two of those cases both emerging earlier this month.
"GSK can confirm we are investigating allegations regarding the activity of a small number of individuals in our operations in Jordan and Lebanon," the company said in statement.
"We started investigating using internal and external teams as soon as we became aware of these claims. These investigations have not yet concluded."
The crisis at GSK began last July in China, where authorities accused the company of funnelling up to 3bn yuan (£287m) to doctors and officials – as well as supplying them with sexual favours – in efforts to encourage them to use the group's medicines.
The case rocked the pharmaceuticals industry. GSK has admitted that some senior staff may have broken the law and that it is co-operating with investigators.
The company's reputation was hit again this month, with similar claims of wrongdoing in Iraq and Poland.
The company has launched an investigation of its Iraqi business, while Poland's Central Anti-Corruption Bureau said on Monday that 13 people had been charged in relation to allegations between 2010 and 2012, although GSK says it found evidence of misconduct by just a single Polish employee, who has been disciplined.
The company insists it does not have a systemic issue with unethical behaviour and says the 161 violations of its sales and marketing policies in 2013 was very similar to rates reported by other pharmaceutical companies.
It also says it is making moves to tighten its procedures and has stopped paying doctors to speak on its behalf and tying its sales force's pay to the number of prescriptions doctors write.
The latest allegations relating to Jordan and Lebanon were first reported in the Wall Street Journal, which cited emails from a person who first contacted GSK in December.
The paper said the emails allege that GSK sales representatives bribed doctors to prescribe drugs and vaccines by issuing free samples to doctors that they were allowed to sell on. Shares in GSK are trading 11% below their level last July, when the China scandal first emerged.
theguardian.com
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