Roche financially backed and sold large quantities of its prescription slimming medicine to the operator of a chain of private UK diet clinics in spite of suspicions at one stage that the pills were being sold illegally.
The case provides insights into the marketing practices of a pharmaceutical company selling a leading drug in the slimming aid sector.
Although he is neither doctor nor pharmacist, Robin Huxley was sold Xenical by Roche’s UK subsidiary over a long period, even after its own undercover operations showed he was prescribing the drug himself and raised concerns that he was selling it on in the “grey market”.
Roche said it had no reason to suspect Mr Huxley was not a pharmacist, or that he was not legally qualified to sell the drug.
The revelations, contained in internal company documents submitted to an employment tribunal for unfair dismissal brought by Roche’s former UK head of regulatory affairs, show that the company also agreed to pay Mr Huxley £55,000 to help “support” the purchase of another diet clinic after he explained it would increase sales of Xenical under his management.
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