Press Releases

Attorney General Sorrell Announces Glaxosmithkline will Pay Vermont $1.17 Million as Part of Avandia Settlement

CONTACT: Jill Abrams, Assistant Attorney General, (802) 828-5479

November 15, 2012

Attorney General William H. Sorrell announced today that he and 37 other Attorneys General reached a $90 million settlement with GlaxoSmithKline LLC (“GSK”) which resolves allegations that GlaxoSmithKline unlawfully promoted its Avandia® diabetes drug. Pursuant to the settlement, which was submitted to the Washington Superior Court for approval today, Vermont will receive over $1.17 million.

Filed today, the complaint alleges that GSK engaged in unfair and deceptive practices by misrepresenting Avandia’s cardiovascular risks and safety profile. “GSK marketed Avandia as having cardiovascular benefits for people with diabetes, but it lacked substantiation for that claim, said Attorney General Sorrell. “Such claims are particularly dangerous to a population that is already at risk. This office will continue to aggressively pursue companies who violate our consumer protection laws and mislead the public into buying those companies’ products.”

As part of the settlement, GlaxoSmithKline agreed to reform how it markets and promotes diabetes drugs. Under the terms of the settlement, GSK may not:

Make any false, misleading, or deceptive claims about any diabetes drug;

Make comparative safety claims not supported by substantial evidence or substantial clinical experience;

Present favorable information previously thought of as valid, but rendered invalid by contrary and more credible recent information;

Promote investigational drugs; or

Misuse statistics or otherwise misrepresent the nature, applicability, or significance of clinical trials.

The settlement also provides, among other things, that, for at least eight years:

GSK must post summaries of all GSK-sponsored observational studies or meta-analyses conducted by GSK that are designed to inform the effective, safe, and/or appropriate use of its diabetes drugs; and

GSK must post summaries of GSK-sponsored clinical trials of diabetes products within eight months of the primary completion date.