Integrity Matters
June 16, 2004
New York attorney general targets drug
firm
Question: (E-121)
Dear Jim:
The Attorney General of New York has charged GlaxoSmithKline,
plc, with fraud for suppressing negative factual information
on their blockbuster drug Paxil, which is prescribed
for treating children with depression. It seems there
have been unpublished clinical studies that show the
drug is little better than a placebo in treating depression
and in some cases may have even led to more suicidal
thinking by those same youth using the drug. What type
of thinking (collusion, greed and disregard for humanity)
must exist in the higher levels of this or any company
that would allow harm to come to children simply to make
a buck?
Response:
Eliot Spitzer, the New York Attorney General, may be
the first to call such behavior illegal, as a recent
article in the Wall Street Journal suggests. However,
common sense would certainly characterize such behavior
as lacking in integrity. There is no legitimate excuse
for placing lives (of any age, and especially the young)
at risk when available scientific information would question
a product's safety. Your questions ask in no uncertain
terms: When will the greedy and impatient animals of
commerce behave responsibly? Is there no limit to greed?
Is there no one who would be safe from those who would
abuse them?
GlaxoSmithKline's accuser bases the charges on their
alleged steps to suppress negative information. It
is one thing to promote a clinical study with favorable
results. It is quite another to report only the favorable
aspects of a clinical study from which negative results
have been deliberately omitted. If Spitzer is correct
and those at this company are found guilty of suppressing
information that could be or is life-threatening, then
those involved at this company have some serious charges
to resolve or face harsh penalties.
If the courts in New York determine that irresponsible
leadership is behind this lack of forthrightness, translate
as integrity, then confidence and trust in corporate
values will once again have taken a beating. Legitimate
business is intended to provide a needed product or
service that will be helpful and not harmful.
We do not yet know, as outsiders, what has gone on
at GlaxoSmithKline. What we do know is that there is
no excuse for supplying drugs that the manufacturer
knew might add to the misery of those who have turned
to their product for help. Should this company be found
guilty, we will have yet another opportunity to see
the wisdom in these words: It should be common knowledge
that free markets (including large drug companies)
must regulate themselves (by being responsible to their
customers) or governments will.
