Pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) on Monday said it will record a $3.4 billion charge against fourth-quarter earnings related to legal problems tied to its blockbuster diabetes drug Avandia.
Glaxo faces thousands of lawsuits by former Avandia users and is currently under investigation in the U.S. by federal and state prosecutors for allegedly failing to report potentially damaging side effects of the drug.
A number of those suits were settled last year.
But in a statement Monday, the company said the number of new product liability cases involving Avandia “is substantial and (Glaxo) has now completed its assessment of these additional cases and an estimate of likely future claims.”
Glaxo’s top lawyer, PD Villarreal, said in the statement: “We recognize that this is a significant charge, but we believe the approach we are taking to resolve long-standing legal matters is in the company’s best interests. We have closed out a number of major cases over the last year and we remain determined to do all we can to reduce our litigation risk.”
Monday, January 17, 2011
Glaxo to Record $3.4B Charge Tied to Avandia - FoxBusiness.com
via foxbusiness.com
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