The greedy ghouls of
GlaxoSmithKline
Sightings from The Catbird Seat
~ o ~
* * * THE SPIN * * *
From the GlaxoSmithKline website:
Our company
We have a challenging and inspiring mission: to improve the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live longer. This mission gives us the purpose to develop innovative medicines and products that help millions of people around the world.
We are one of the few pharmaceutical companies researching both medicines and vaccines for the World Health Organization’s three priority diseases – HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, and are very proud to have developed some of the leading global medicines in these fields.
Headquartered in the UK and with operations based in the US, we are one of the industry leaders, with an estimated seven per cent of the world's pharmaceutical market.
But being a leader brings responsibility. This means that we care about the impact that we have on the people and places touched by our mission to improve health around the world.
It also means that we must help developing countries where debilitating disease affects millions of people and access to life-changing medicines and vaccines is a problem. To meet this challenge, we are committed to providing discounted medicines where they are needed the most.
As a company with a firm foundation in science, we have a flair for research and a track record of turning that research into powerful, marketable drugs. Every hour we spend more than £300,000 (US$562,000) to find new medicines.
We produce medicines that treat six major disease areas – asthma, virus control, infections, mental health, diabetes and digestive conditions. In addition, we are a leader in the important area of vaccines and are developing new treatments for cancer.
We also market other products, many of which are among the market leaders:
– over-the-counter (OTC) medicines including Gaviscon and Panadol
– dental products such as Aquafresh and Macleans
– smoking control products Nicorette/Niquitin
– nutritional healthcare drinks such as Lucozade, Ribena and Horlicks
http://www.gsk.com/about/company.htm
* * * THE REALITY * * *
From Wikipedia:
GlaxoSmithKline plc (LSE: GSK NYSE: GSK) is a United Kingdom-based pharmaceutical, biological, and healthcare company. GSK is the world's second largest pharmaceutical company and a research-based company with a wide portfolio of pharmaceutical products covering anti-infectives, central nervous system, respiratory, gastro-intestinal/metabolic, oncology, and vaccines products. It also has a Consumer Healthcare operation comprising leading oral healthcare products, nutritional drinks, and over the counter medicines. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index....
Controversy
Paroxetine (Seroxat, Paxil) is an SSRI antidepressant released in 1992 by GlaxoSmithKline. In March 2004 the FDA ordered a black box warning placed on SSRI and other antidepressants, warning of the risk for potential suicidal thinking in children and adolescents. Since the FDA approved paroxetine in 1992, approximately 5,000 U.S. citizens have sued GSK. On January 29 2007, the BBC in the UK broadcast a fourth documentary in its 'Panorama' series about Seroxat. There is as yet no proven link between SSRI's and actual suicide, and the addition of blackbox warning labels is itself controversial
In November 2007, a United States Congressional committee released a report describing intimidation of Dr John Buse (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) by GlaxoSmithKline over his concerns about the cardiovascular risks associated with the company's antidiabetes drug Rosiglitazone (Avandia).
In March 2006, California Attorney General Bill Lockyer announced that "GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) will pay $14 million to resolve allegations that state-government programs paid inflated prices for the firm’s anti-depressant drug Paxil because GSK engaged in patent fraud, antitrust violations and frivolous litigation to maintain a monopoly and block generic versions from entering the market."
At the AGM on 19 May 2003, GSK shareholders rejected a motion regarding a £22 million pay and benefits package for CEO, JP Garnier. This was the first time such a rebellion by shareholders against a major British company has occurred, but was regarded as a possible turning point against other so-called "fat cat" deals within executive pay structure.
The company and its shareholders have been targeted by animal rights activists because it is a customer of the controversial animal-testing company, Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS).[20] HLS has been the subject since 1999 of an international campaign by Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC) and the Animal Liberation Front (ALF), ever since footage shot covertly by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), which was shown on British television, showed staff punching, kicking, screaming and laughing at the animals in their care. On 7 September 2005, the ALF detonated a bomb containing two litres of fuel and four pounds of explosives on the doorstop of the Buckinghamshire home of Paul Blackburn, GSK's corporate controller, causing minor damage.
In November 2005, AIDS Healthcare Foundation accused the company of boosting its short-term monopoly profit by not increasing production of the anti-AIDS drug AZT despite a surge in demand, hence creating a shortage that affected many AIDS patients in Africa. GSK announced that it had halted clinical trials of the CCR5 entry inhibitor, aplaviroc (GW873140), in HIV-infected, treatment-naive patients because of concerns about severe hepatotoxicity. In June 2006 GSK said it was further cutting, by about 30%, the not-for-profit prices it charges for some of these medicines in the world's poorest countries.
Legal
In 2003 GSK signed a corporate integrity agreement and paid $88 million in a civil fine for overcharging Medicaid for the antidepressant Paxil, and nasal-allergy spray Flonase. Later that year GSK also ran afoul of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and was facing a demand for $7.8 billion in backdated taxes and interest, the highest in IRS history.
On August 26, 2004, New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's office announced it had settled legal action against GlaxoSmithKline. The settlement required GSK to post a registry which would include much more information about pretrial and clinical drug study results than what the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other pharmaceutical companies had thus far been willing to make public.
Attorney General Spitzer hailed the settlement as "transformational in that it will provide doctors and patients access to the clinical testing data necessary to make informed judgments." This part of the settlement was the main objective of the New York AG and Rose Firestein, who worked in the office of the AG and initially argued the case should be undertaken. As for the monetary compensation, both sides finally agreed to $2.5 million.
On August 3, 2004, shortly before the settlement, Senator Charles Grassley, a Republican senator from Iowa sent a letter to GSK, stating that he was concerned that "some drug companies" may not have provided the FDA with all the information at their disposal.
His letter was spurred by statements earlier in 2008 by Dr. Andrew Mosholder, an FDA official, who had told senators at a February 2, 2004 hearing that "GlaxoSmithKline, in his opinion, was attempting to 'sugar-coat' the adverse effects of Paxil on children by 'miscoding' suicidal ideations and/or suicidal behavior." Glaxo officials never commented on whether there was any connection between Senator Grassley's letter and their decision to pursue a settlement with the New York State attorney general's lawsuit.
On 12 September 2006 GSK settled the largest tax dispute in IRS history agreeing to pay $3.1 billion. At issue in the case were Zantac and the other Glaxo Group heritage products sold from 1989–2005. The case was about an area of taxation dealing with intracompany "transfer pricing"—determining the share of profit attributable to the US subsidiaries of GSK and subject to tax by the IRS. Taxes for large multi-divisional companies are paid to revenue authorities based on the profits reported in particular tax jurisdictions, so how profits were allocated among various legacy Glaxo divisions based on the functions they performed was central to the dispute in this case.
In February 2007, the Serious Fraud Office in the UK launched an investigation into allegations of GSK being involved in the discredited oil-for-food sanctions regime in Iraq. They are accused of paying bribes to Saddam Hussein's regime.
Paroxetine
For the first 10 years of paroxetine's availability, GlaxoSmithKline's marketing of the drug stated falsely that it was "not habit forming". In 2002, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration published a new product warning about the drug, and the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Associations (IFPMA) declared GSK guilty of misleading the public about paroxetine on US television.
The British Medical Journal quoted Charles Medawar, head of Social Audit: "This drug has been promoted for years as safe and easy to discontinue.... The fact that it can cause intolerable withdrawal symptoms of the kind that could lead to dependence is enormously important to patients, doctors, investors, and the company. GlaxoSmithKline has evaded the issue since it was granted a licence for paroxetine over 10 years ago, and the drug has become a blockbuster for them, generating about a tenth of their entire revenue. The company has been promoting paroxetine directly to consumers as 'non-habit forming' for far too long."
On 22 December 2006, a US court decided in Hoorman, et al. v. SmithKline Beecham Corp that individuals who purchased Paxil(R) or Paxil CR(TM) (paroxetine) for a minor child may be eligible for benefits under a $63.8 million Proposed Settlement. The lawsuit stemmed from a consumer advocate protest against Paroxetine manufacturer GSK. Since the FDA approved paroxetine in 1992, approximately 5,000 U.S. citizens – and thousands more worldwide – have sued GSK. Most of these people feel they were not sufficiently warned in advance of the drug's side effects and addictive properties.
According to the Paxil Protest website, hundreds more lawsuits have been filed against GSK. The original Paxil Protest website was removed from the internet in 2006. It is understood that the action to take down the site was undertaken as part of a confidentiality agreement or 'gagging order' which the owner of the site entered into as part of a settlement of his action against GlaxoSmithKline. (However, in March 2007, the website Seroxat Secrets discovered that an archive of Paxil Protest site was still available on the internet via Archive.org)
In January 2007, according to the Seroxat Secrets website, the national group litigation in the United Kingdom, on behalf of several hundred people who allege withdrawal reactions through their use of the drug Seroxat, against GlaxoSmithKline plc, moved a step closer to the High Court in London, with the confirmation that Public Funding had been reinstated following a decision by the Public Interest Appeal Panel. The issue at the heart of this particular action claims Seroxat has a propensity to cause a withdrawal reaction. Hugh James Solicitors have confirmed this news.
In March 2008 the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency concluded that GSK should have warned of the possible ill effects of taking Seroxat a lot sooner. GSK could not be prosecuted under the old legislation.
As of 2008, GlaxoSmithKline's prescribing information acknowledges that "serious discontinuation symptoms" may occur.
Ribena
On March 27, 2007, GSK pleaded guilty in an Auckland District Court to 15 charges relating to misleading conduct brought against them under the Fair Trading Act by New Zealand's Commerce Commission. The charges related to a popular blackcurrant fruit drink Ribena which the company had led consumers to believe contained high levels of vitamin C.
As part of a school science project, two 14-year-old school girls (Anna Devathasan and Jenny Suo) from Pakuranga College in Auckland (New Zealand) discovered that ready-to-drink juice sold in 100ml containers contained very little vitamin C. Approaches by the two teens to the company didn't resolve the issue but after the matter was publicised on a national consumer affairs television show (Fair Go) the matter came to the attention of the Commerce Commission (a government funded 'consumer watch-dog'). The commission's testing found that ready-to-drink Ribena contained no detectable vitamin C.
The company was fined $217,000 for the 15 charges. The number of charges was reduced from 88 and covered a period from March 2002 to March 2006. GSK maintains that it did not intend to mislead consumers and that the advertising claims were based on testing procedures that have since been changed. It was ordered to run an advertising campaign to provide the facts after it admitted misleading the public about the vitamin C component in its Ribena drink....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GlaxoSmithKline
From Online Lawyer Source:
GlaxoSmithKline
GlaxoSmithKline is the second largest pharmaceutical manufacturer and researcher in the world. The company is headquartered in the UK and has operations and offices in the US. GlaxoSmithKline''s worldwide sales make up about 7% of the drug market.
GSK has over 100,000 employees. At least 40,000 of their employees are involved in sales and marketing. That accounts for some 40% of the company''s resources that goes into selling their products.
GSK was formed in 2000 as a merger between Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham, two companies formed out of previous mergers themselves.
During the late 1990s, GSK CEO Jean-Pierre Garnier was targeted by groups alleging price gouging in its antiretroviral drug pricing in its AIDS drug sales to African countries. Also, GSK faced controversy for corruption involving patent protection and access to their medications.
In 2004 a widely reported on class action lawsuit was filed in New York on behalf of consumers of GS's drug Paxil. The lawsuit alleges that the company knowingly covered up information about Paxil's links to suicide and suicidal thoughts, especially in young people.
GSK is also the target of controversy by animal rights groups because of the drug company’s affiliation with animal testing company Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS), known in the US as Life Sciences Research, Inc. The animal rights groups allege severe abuse of animals and unprofessional behavior during research.
Controversial drugs that the company is responsible for include:
Avandia – A prescription medication made for treating type II diabetes. Avandia has been linked to several instances of serious side effects including liver damage and failure, weight gain, fluid retention, anemia, and heart failure.
Lamictal – A prescription medication used in treating convulsions in patients with various types of diseases. Lamictal has been linked to serious skin rashes and the development of cases of Stevens-Johnson syndrome.
Paxil – A prescription medication used in treating depression. Paxil is very controversial because reports of suicides, suicidal thoughts, mania, homicides, and other abuse have occurred in patients on the medication.
Serevent – An asthma medication dispensed through an inhaler. The active ingredient of Serevent is salmeterol, a primary component of Glaxo''s other asthma drugs Serevent Diskus and Advair Diskus. Deaths have been linked to salmeterol and have prompted the FDA to put the drug on a “black box” warning.
www.onlinelawyersource.com/drug_company/glaxosmithkline.html
March 6, 2009
Source: Obama to reverse
limits on stem cell work
By BEN FELLER and LAURAN NEERGAARD, Associated Press
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama is expected to sign an executive order on Monday reversing restrictions on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. The long-expected move is likely to stir up not only the promise of scientific breakthrough but also the controversy over where government crosses a moral line.
Obama will hold an event at the White House to announce the move, a senior administration official said Friday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the policy had not yet been publicly announced.
Under President George W. Bush, federal money for research on human embryonic stems cells was limited to those stem cell lines that were created before Aug. 9, 2001. No federal dollars could be used on research with cell lines from embryos destroyed from that point forward.
Obama's move is expected to lift that restriction. The official said the aim of the policy is restore "scientific integrity" to the process.
Embryonic stem cells are master cells that can morph into any cell of the body. Scientists hope to harness them so they can create replacement tissues to treat a variety of diseases — such as new insulin-producing cells for diabetics or new nerve connections to restore movement after spinal injury.
"I feel vindicated after eight years of struggle, and I know it's going to energize my research team," said Dr. George Daley of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute and Children's Hospital of Boston, a leading stem cell researcher.
Such research is controversial because embryos must be destroyed to obtain the cells; they typically are culled from fertility-clinic leftovers otherwise destined to be thrown away. Once a group of stem cells is culled, it can be kept alive and propagating in lab dishes for years.
There are different types of stem cells, and critics say the nation should pursue alternatives to embryonic ones such as adult stem cells, or those found floating in amniotic fluid or the placenta. But leading researchers consider embryonic stem cells the most flexible, and thus most promising, form — and say that science, not politics, should ultimately judge.
"Science works best and patients are served best by having all the tools at our disposal," Daley said.
Obama made it clear during the campaign he would overturn Bush's directive.
During the campaign, Obama said, "I strongly support expanding research on stem cells. I believe that the restrictions that President Bush has placed on funding of human embryonic stem cell research have handcuffed our scientists and hindered our ability to compete with other nations."
He said he would lift Bush's ban and "ensure that all research on stem cells is conducted ethically and with rigorous oversight."
"Patients and people who've been patient advocates are going to be really happy," said Amy Comstock Rick of the Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research.
The ruling will bring one immediate change: As of Monday, scientists who've had to meticulously keep separate their federally funded research and their privately funded stem cell work — from buying separate microscopes to even setting up labs in different buildings — won't have that expensive hurdle anymore.
Next, scientists can start applying for research grants from the National Institutes of Health. The NIH already has begun writing guidelines for what embryonic stem cell lines will qualify under Obama's ruling. Among other things, the guidelines are expected to demand that the cells were derived with proper informed consent from the woman or couple who donated the original embryo.
March 4, 2009
MORE RIDICULE FOR AIG & MORE BARCLAYS DEMOS
This morning yet again we were outside the doors of the AIG building in Fenchurch Street demanding they sell their blood money shares in HLS. This company is spending US tax payer's money on supporting the torture of monkeys, puppies and kittens inside HLS - what a disgrace! We were there from half eight to greet the workers going in and stayed for about an hour and a quarter. They didn't like the "World's biggest ever losers" placard one bit, though it is completely accurate.
We the made our way out of the City of London to do a couple of demonstrations against Barclays branches. We spent about an hour at Barclays in Piccadilly Circus. A member of the public stated to us that he would definitely close his account, and the support was generally very good here. Then, after a quick vegan burger in Soho, we demonstrated the Barclays in Soho Square.
The staff were not happy at this location and called the police, even though we were only chanting and handing out leaflets. The police told us that the Barclays staff wanted us on the other side of the road. We told the police that we wanted Barclays to sell their shares in HLS! The police didn't follow through with any of their pathetic threats and we carried on the demo.
A good trio of demos today and reaction was very good at all locations. We will only stop against these two companies when they sell their shares in HLS.
http://www.shac.net/news/2009/march/4.html
July 25, 2008
Harvard Stem Cell Institute Wins $25 Million Investment From GlaxoSmithKline
GlaxoSmithKline, the world’s second-biggest drugmaker, said it agreed to invest $25 million over five years in the Harvard Stem Cell Institute for a collaboration to develop new treatments.
London-based Glaxo (NYSE: GSK) said the collaboration will spur research at Harvard and at least four affiliated hospitals to study neuroscience, cancer, diabetes, obesity and musculoskeletal diseases. “We have carefully chosen the Boston biomedical community to collaborate with on this important venture. It has the highest concentration of leading stem cell scientists,” GSK’s head of drug discovery, Patrick Vallance, said in a statement.
Harvard Stem Cell Institute Wins $25 Million Investment From ...
December 31, 2008
GlaxoSmithKline spent nearly $2M lobbying in 3Q
WASHINGTON (AP) - British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline PLC spent nearly $2 million lobbying the U.S. government on patent laws, drug prices and other issues in the third quarter, according to a recent disclosure for lobbyists.
Glaxo lobbied on the budgets for the departments of Labor, Education and Health and Human Services, as well as related agencies, and on bills funding the state Children's Health Insurance Programs. It lobbied on legislation related to drug safety, drugmaker payments to doctors, vaccine supply programs and the law covering industry whistleblowers.
The company is one of the few major makers of vaccines, with about two dozen on the market, including flu shots and several standard children's vaccines against diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus and rotavirus.
Glaxo lobbied against a bill aimed at updating the U.S. patent system. High-tech companies supported the bill that passed the House in 2007, saying it would cut down on frivolous patent-infringement lawsuits. But the pharmaceutical industry has argued it will weaken patent protections on drugs by reducing infringement penalties. The bill stalled in the Senate.
The company also lobbied on related patent protection provisions within free-trade agreements with Peru, Colombia, Panama and South Korea. Lawmakers approved the agreement with Peru late in 2007.
Glaxo and other biotech companies also lobbied on legislation to allow the Food and Drug Administration to approve generic copies of biotech drugs. Generic drug companies already market cheaper versions of regular, chemical drugs, but the FDA does not have the authority to approve copies of biotech drugs, which are more complicated. A handful of generic biotech drugs are now sold in Europe.
Biotech makers opposed a bill that would have made generic biotech medicines medically interchangeable with the originals. Glaxo and others argued generic biotechs should be classified as similar, but not interchangeable. The distinction could potentially save biotech drugmakers billions in lost sales. (...and cost consumers billions MORE in higher drug costs! - CB)
Glaxo lobbied Congress and the Department of Health and Human Services on a proposal that would have allowed the government to negotiate drug prices for seniors in Medicare. Currently, private health insurers negotiate those prices, but that could change under the new Obama administration.
Lobbyists for Glaxo also pushed for an extension of a tax credit designed to reward companies for investing in research and development.
Lobbyists for the company in the July-September period included Jeffrey Ringer, a former legislative aide for Rep. Mary Fallin, R-Okla., Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C., and former Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., according to a form filed Oct. 20 with the House clerk's office.
http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20081231/glaxosmithkline-spent-nearly-2m-lobbying-in-3q.htm
* * * * *
HAWAII STATE ETHICS COMMISSION
Registered Lobbyists as of 07/28/08
http://hawaii.gov/ethics/lobby/reglob/lljul08.pdf
* * * * *
November 30, 2007
GSK chief to advise
global fund manager
Dubai International Capital (DIC) has recruited Jean-Pierre Garnier, chief executive officer (CEO) at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), to an advisory board for its global strategic equities fund (GSEF), it has emerged.
Mr Garnier is set to step down from his post as CEO for the British-based drugmaker in May 2008.
He will join the fund management company's board to advise on overseas investments and will be joined by former leading officials of BMW, Sony and Nobuyuki Idei.
DIC's global strategic equities fund has around $2 billion (£970 million) worth of funds under management and has recently made investments in Sony and HSBC.
The group is aiming to become a leading shareholder in global capitalisation stocks, explained Sameer Al Ansari, chief executive of DIC.
"These are three very substantial appointments for GSEF, which reflect the global ambitions of the fund," he added.
Andrew Witty, GSK's current European pharmaceuticals business president, was recently announced as Mr Garnier's successor as CEO at the company.
September 20, 2007
Superintendent's Update for the Board of Education and Hawaii's Public Schools
Department of Education, State of Hawaii
=====
Children & Youth Day –plus 'Teen Zone'
The State Capitol and surrounding areas will overflow with youthful energy at the 14th annual Children & Youth Day on Sunday, October 7, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m
This year's event, with more than 100 free and fun activities for the whole family, will take place on the grounds of the State Capitol, Iolani Palace, Washington Place, the Hawaii State Art Museum, and Honolulu Hale. Parking will be free at all neighboring State and County public parking lots.
The event's primary sponsors are McDonald's Restaurants of Hawaii, Hawaii Children's Trust Fund, and Glaxo Smith Kline. The State of Hawaii (including the DOE), City & County of Honolulu, and at least 60 additional businesses and organizations are also providing substantial support.
Dozens of exhibitors and community organizations will offer interactive educational activities under the "Big Top" tents and on the grounds surrounding the Capitol....
Tours of the Governor's Office, Iolani Palace Gallery, Washington Place, and the Hawaii State Art Museum (which will also showcase Hawaii Student Television productions)...
Sen. Suzanne Chun Oakland and Rep. John Mizuno serve as Children & Youth Month co-chairs.
http://doe.k12.hi.us/periodicals/update/2007/update0716.htm
April 1, 2004
University Health Services to Offer Hepatitis a and Hepatitis B Vaccinations for UH Faculty and Staff
The immunization clinic is being held in cooperation with corporate partner GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals and the UH Mânoa Student Health Services.
The clinic is designed to provide faculty and staff an opportunity to receive vaccinations at no or low cost. Vaccinations are highly recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization for those traveling overseas to foreign countries. Hepatitis A and Hepatitis B are potentially serious, highly contagious viral diseases that affect the liver and can lead to severe liver infection, cirrhosis, and liver cancer. There is no cure for either Hepatitis A or Hepatitis B.
Hepatitis A is spread from contaminated food and water, as well as person to person through fecal contamination and then hand-to-mouth contact. Sources of infection include uncooked foods such as fruits, salads, sandwiches, raw shellfish/seafood and the like.
Hawai‘i has the highest incidence of Hepatitis B in the nation. Hepatitis B is transmitted directly and indirectly through infected blood and body fluids. It can be transmitted via sexual contact, eye or mouth exposure to infected fluids, through scrapes and cuts that come in contact with infected fluids, sports, use of UV drugs, tattooing, body piercing, etc...
http://www.uhm.hawaii.edu/cgi-bin/uhnews?20040401124947
July 29, 2003
HONDURAS AND THE GLOBAL FUND
Summary - News
In partnership with GlobalHealthReporting.org , a project of the Kaiser Family Foundation
Reprinted with permission from the Kaiser Family Foundation and GlobalHealthReporting.org.
29/Jul/2003
A U.S. District Court in California on Thursday denied a request from drug maker GlaxoSmithKline to dismiss a lawsuit brought against the company by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which seeks to block the company's patent for its antiretroviral drug Retrovir, London's Guardian reports (Bowers, Guardian, 7/26).
AHF, the largest nongovernmental provider of health care services for people with HIV/AIDS in the United States, in April filed an amended lawsuit in federal court against GSK, challenging the company's patents for three of its top-selling antiretroviral drugs.
AHF's original suit, which was dismissed in March, charged that several of GSK's patents for its antiretroviral drugs are invalid and that its prices "exorbitantly exceed" its licensing, manufacturing and distribution costs (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 4/23).
In the new suit, AHF says that GSK's Retrovir, which is more commonly known as AZT, was developed by NIH in 1964 as a cancer drug with federal funding and that the drug was tested by NIH scientists as an HIV drug 17 months before GSK filed its patent in the mid-1980s.
Under U.S. law, drugs developed with federal funds must be sold at a "reasonable price" which can, if necessary, be determined by the courts, according to the Guardian. AHF alleges that the patent on Retrovir locked out competitors and allowed the company to price the drug at 32 times its manufacturing cost (Guardian, 7/26).
Because Retrovir was developed with federal funding, the drug and subsequent derivative drugs -- such as the combination drugs Combivir and Trizivir, which include Retrovir -- should be sold at more reasonable rates, the suit states, according to an AHF release.
Moving Forward
AHF is claiming damages as a major purchaser of the drugs, which the foundation uses to treat an estimate 12,000 HIV-positive people in the United States, Africa and Honduras. Last week's ruling sustains 16 of AHF's 17 allegations against GSK, and the foundation intends to file a preliminary injunction against GSK (AHF release, 7/24).
"GSK officials have repeatedly called our AZT patent piracy lawsuit 'frivolous' and 'without merit,' but this court ruling clearly says otherwise," AHF President Michael Weinstein said, adding, "We can now move forward with our challenge to GSK's stranglehold on the patent for AZT."
A GSK spokesperson on Friday said that AHF's claims "are entirely without merit, offer no new information and are based on decades-old history that has already been thoroughly reviewed and decided by the courts" (Guardian, 7/26).
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From ericture1@aol.com
Nov 6, 200l
Activist says he has proof
U.S. created HIV
by Eric Ture Muhammad
WASHINGTON - For the past nine years Boyd Ed Graves has lived with HIV. Since the beginning of his research in 1992, he has become one of the world’s most recognized AIDS activists.
For the last two years, Mr. Graves has charged the U.S. government with the creation of this disease as a part of an overall plan to eliminate world populations, Blacks in particular.
He also asserts that the plan and its execution has cost U.S. taxpayers $550 million and that he has discovered evidence of an AIDS-virus flow chart produced by the government that he says proves his claim.
Until recently, these assertions beyond the scientific community have been at best alarming. Many critics sought to disprove them. However, the recently piqued interest of an Ohio congressman has breathed new life in the activist’s war on the disease.
Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. (D-Ohio) has expressed interest in Mr. Graves’ claims and is in the process of organizing a hearing on the Special Virus Cancer Program of the U.S. government that ran from 1962-1978. According to published reports, he has also asked the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) to provide an account of American tax dollars allegedly provided for the project.
Rep.Traficant, no stranger to theories of government conspiracy, was the lead congressional investigator into the ill-fated TWA flight 800 that, in 1996, crashed shortly after takeoff from Kennedy International Airport into the Atlantic Ocean.
"What we expect initially from Congressman Traficant is to have him on the floor of the House to unveil the flow chart," said Dr. Graves, who also is director of AIDS Concerns for the International Medical Research Foundation of the group Common Cause in Ontario, Canada.
"If you follow the money, we can get to the heart of this issue. The GAO sent a letter on Aug. 20, that indeed they had looked into the preliminary information that they had received from the congressman, the flowchart and the budget for this program and were calling for an additional investigation from the Health Care Team of the GAO," he said.
"The congressman has agreed to ask for an investigation by the GAO or the Congressional Committee on Investigations," said Anthony Traficanti, the congressman’s regional director.
"The information presented by Dr. Graves is very shocking and very revealing. Our government is supposed to be sensitive to the people’s concerns and the flowchart was very revealing to me," he said in a recent interview with The Buckeye Review.
The 1971 U.S. Special AIDS Virus Flow Chart was unveiled in October 1999 by Dr. Graves at the Western Reserve Historical Society in Cleveland, Ohio. It coordinates over 20,000 scientific papers and 15 years of progress reports of a secret, federal virus development program.
It contains within its five-section foldout, thousands of secret experiments detailing the creation and mass production of a human immunodefeciency virus. Independent experts agree that this program is the birthplace of HIV/AIDS and other mysterious illnesses, according to Mr. Graves.
In 1977, this virus program produced 15,000 gallons of AIDS, he said. According to the chart, the United States was represented by Dr. Robert Gallo and the USSR (Soviet Union) was represented by a Dr. Novakhatskiy of the Ivanosky Institute.
"This was the beginnings of the plot to thin the Black population," Mr. Graves said.
"The flow chart is the research logic flow of an ultra-secret federal program called ‘The Special Virus’.”
It is the designer product of a century long hunt for a contagious cancer that will selectively kill.
The necessity for the creation and deployment of AIDS is fully outlined in U.S. population control policy decisions including National Security Study Memorandum 200 (NSSM-200) of 1974, written and presented by Henry Kissinger at the mega-conference on population control held in Bucharest, Romania," Dr. Graves told The Final Call.
In January 2000, Mr. Graves filed a lawsuit against the president of the United States charging the government created the HIV virus.
In January 2001, that case was dismissed in federal court as "frivolous."
Last April, Dr. Graves, armed with 10,000 signatures, hand delivered to the Supreme Court an appeals brief on the matter. It is currently under review.
Comparing the discovery as a trip through the "Land of Oz," Dr. Graves said the chart provides irrefutable evidence that HIV/AIDS is a design of population control and it dispels the myths associated with the disease.
"I don’t know where you were when you saw for the first time the curtain pulled back in the film The Wizard of Oz, and discovered that things weren’t what they seemed. That discovery changes a person. How dare the U.S. government perpetrate that over 70 percent of the deaths from HIV/AIDS are found in the Black communities because we are more sexually scurrilous.
That is simply not true.
“The majority of the U.S. population is white. How then can Black women be the fastest growing group coming down with HIV/AIDS today when the largest sexual preferences (gay, bisexual and multi-partnered) are found among American whites?
“How does a so-called white, homosexual disease, transform itself into a health
problem for Black women?" he asked.
– The flow chart can be accessed through his website www.boydgraves.com
For more, GO TO > > > The Global Fund
May 12, 2003
STATE OF HAWAII
DEPARTMENT OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
News Release
State Reaches Settlement Agreements With Bayer Corporation And GlaxoSmithKline For “Lick And Stick” Fraud Scheme
Honolulu, Hawaii - Attorney General Mark J. Bennett today announced that Hawaii has joined the largest Medicaid fraud settlement ever involving pharmaceutical manufacturers. Two major drug manufacturers, Bayer Corporation and GlaxoSmithKline failed to accurately report “best price” to the Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) and failed to pay sufficient rebates to the state Medicaid programs in connection with their private labeling of certain drugs. Forty-nine states and the District of Columbia are participating in these settlements....
Both Bayer and GlaxoSmithKline sold products to HMOs at deeply discounted prices, and then concealed and avoided their obligation to pay additional rebates to the Medicaid programs. This was accomplished by re-labeling or repackaging these drugs under the HMO’s private label. This fraud scheme is referred to as “lick and stick.”...
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) failed to report the “best price” for Flonase, a nasal spray and Paxil, an anti-depressant. Flonase was manufactured and sold by Glaxo Wellcome and Paxil was manufactured and sold by SmithKlineBeecham. Thes two companies merged and became GSK in December 2001.
Through a private labeling agreement with Kaiser Permanente, an HMO in California, Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKlineBeecham sold Flonase and Paxil to Kaiser. Kaiser’s unique identifying number was substituted for Glaxo Wellcome and SmithklineBeecham’s unique identifying number on the label, which provide Kaiser with an additional discount. The discounts given to Kaiser were not reported to Medicaid and GSK therefore avoided payment of additional rebates to Medicaid programs.
According to the agreement, GSK has agreed to civil settlements of $87,600,922 in damages and penalties to the federal and state governments. Hawaii will receive a total of $126,261 from the settlement....
“My office will continue to join forces with other State Attorneys General and our Federal counterparts to determine whether pharmaceutical corporations are profiting illegally at the expense of the Medicaid Program,” said Attorney General Bennet.
“Insuring that limited Medicaid dollars that are desperately needed to fund health care services for the neediest residents in the State of Hawaii are not fraudulently taken continues to be a priority in my office.”...
For detailed information, contact:
Christopher D.W. Young
Supervising Deputy Attorney General / Director
Medicaid Investigations Division
Email: Christopher.D.Young@hawaii.gov
http://hawaii.gov/ag/main/press_releases/2003/2003-20.pdf
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BUZZARDS IN THE HALLS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII
CONFESSIONS OF A WHISTLEBLOWER
CV05-00030 - FARMER VS HARMON -
DIRTY MONEY, DIRTY POLITICS & BISHOP ESTATE
THE EAGLE HOODED: THE 9-11 COVERUPS
THE INDONESIAN CONNECTION: SUKAMTO SIA
VULTURES IN THE NATURE CONSERVANCY
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