GlaxoSmithKline has reached a $229 million settlement in principle with eight U.S. states to resolve lawsuits relating to the development and marketing of its Avandia diabetes drug, and a separate action from Louisiana for other products.
Glaxo (NYSE: GSK) reached a $90 million settlement with 38 states in November.
North Carolina was part of that settlement,
The status of Avandia is under review following a Duke University study.
The amount of the latest settlement is within existing provisions set aside for legal matters, the London-based company said in a statement.
Glaxo said last year it agreed to pay $3 billion to settle federal and state government claims that it illegally promoted prescription drugs and failed to report clinical data on Avandia, once the world’s best-selling diabetes pill. The drug, which was withdrawn from the European market in 2010, is governed by a strict program in the U.S. that limits its use to patients who understand the risks and have no alternatives.
The $3 billion settlement was the largest-ever in a health- care fraud case in the U.S.
At least 41 whistle-blower complaints against pharmaceutical companies have been filed in U.S. federal fraud cases that contained allegations of improper marketing between 1996 and 2010, leading to $7.9 billion in settlements, according to Aaron Kesselheim of the Harvard School of Public Health.
GSK operates its North American headquarters in RTP.
