Doesn’t a corporate integrity agreement signed by a drug giant mean ANYTHING these days?

China is coming down hard on GlaxoSmithKline.

Chinese officials have accused the drug giant of using fraudulent means to boost drug sales. Charges include bribery and kickback payments.

Wow…how bad are you when the Chinese government thinks you’re not playing fair?

You might recall that last year the company coughed up $3 billion to make a gaggle of civil and criminal lawsuits go away.

At that time, the U.S. government accused GSK of suppressing safety data about Avandia, the notorious type 2 diabetes drug. There were other charges as well. Misbranding of drugs. Reporting false prices.

But here’s the thing…

After writing that fat check, U.S. officials “asked” GSK executives to sign a Corporate Integrity Agreement.

Apparently, they didn’t realize the Chinese require some level of integrity too.

Sources:

“Corporate Integrity Agreement between the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services and GlaxoSmithKline LLC” Department of Justice, July 2012, justice.gov
“Biggest Deal Ever: Glaxo Pays $3B For Bad Behavior” Ed Silverman, Pharmalot, 7/2/12, pharmalot.com
“GlaxoSmithKline Accused of Corruption by China” David Barboza, The New York Times, 7/11/13, nytimes.com