Sanofi said it has received anonymous emails alleging bribes and kickbacks were paid to healthcare professionals to prescribe the company's drugs.
le Monde.fr with AFP | 2014/10/07
A year later the suspects to his offices in China , Sanofi is involved again in an alleged corruption case. The pharmaceutical company announced on Monday, Oct. 6, that it has been alerted about alleged abuses regarding its subsidiaries in the Middle East and East Africa.
Sanofi said it received anonymous emails alleging bribes and bribes were paid to healthcare professionals in both regions between 2007 and 2012 to prescribe the company's drugs, without providing further details.
FINANCING FOR PARTICIPANTS IN CONGRESSES
According to Wall Street Journal , which said it had accessed some of these emails, Sanofi reportedly paid doctors to attend conferences overseas and gave them money or gifts. Doctors in Kenya have requested the money from Sanofi to attend conferences. In return, they would prescribe drugs manufactured by the pharmaceutical company.
"We take these claims seriously," says the pharmaceutical company, which has informed the Justice Department and the US stock exchange regulator (SEC) of the allegations. The latter can initiate investigations and prosecute crimes of this type, which are part of the US law on international bribery. "The investigation is ongoing and should take time because the allegations date back seven years," adds Sanofi.
Pharmaceutical companies, which are looking for new growth, are currently subject to stringent scrutiny practices in emerging markets. British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), for example, was convicted of corruption in mid-September in China. Was sentenced to a "record" fine of 3 billion yuan , equal to 378 million euros, the "highest" penalty ever imposed by the Chinese court on a company.
