Fall 2010: Glaxo Pays $750 Million To Settle Charges

In the fall of 2010, GlaxoSmithKline and its subsidiary SB Pharmco agreed to pay a total of $750 million to settle criminal and civil charges related to the alleged sale of 20 unsafe drugs due to a lack of quality control at its Cidra, Puerto Rico plant. Avandia, Coreg, and Paxil were among the drugs reportedly affected prior to the plant being shutdown in 2009. The $750 million penalty was composed of $150 million to settle criminal charges and $600 million to settle civil charges.

The United States government was able to pursue the charges thanks to the efforts of Cheryl Eckerd, a former Glaxo quality control inspector, who initiated a whistleblower lawsuit against the company after being fired. Allegedly, she was fired after alerting company officials of the problems at the Cidra plant.

Ms. Eckerd’s Whistleblower Lawsuit

According to Ms. Eckerd, she first identified the problems at the Cidra plant while working there in 2002. “All the systems were broken, the facility was broken, the equipment was broken, the processes were broken. It was the worst thing I had run across in my career,” she said in an interview with CBS’s 60 Minutes.

Ms. Eckerd then told Glaxo’s North American Vice President of Quality Control of the problems including tainted water being used in manufacturing, production of drugs not conforming with specifications, and contamination of products. When she suggested that Glaxo shut down the plant, the company terminated her.

Paxil’s Serious Problems

Though Paxil was part of the problem at the Cidra plant, nonconforming production is not the only alleged issue with the drug. A number of birth defects have been connected to children born to women taking the drug during pregnancy. Among these defects are oral clefts – including cleft lip and cleft palate – and the more serious spina bifida, an abnormality that affects the formation of the spine and spinal cord.

If your child has suffered Paxil birth defects, you could have a case against GlaxoSmithKline. In order to get the compensation you deserve, you will first have to speak to an experienced attorney. The attorneys at the Rottenstein Law Group have over two decades of collective experience helping clients just like you assert your rights against negligent corporations. For a free consultation with an RLG attorney, please fill out this brief contact form.