U.S. pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson, will pay $70 million dollars after admitting that the company bribed doctors in Greece, Poland, Romania. The company paid kickbacks in Iraq to win contracts and sell drugs and artificial joints.
Subsidiaries of J & J paid bribed doctors and hospital administrators in Greece, Poland and Romania , the Securities and Exchange Commission and Department of Justice, stated today in filings at the U.S. District Court in Washington.
J & J, based in New Brunswick, New Jersey , used slush funds, sham contracts and off-shore companies in the Isle of Man to carry out the bribery, SEC stated.
Public health system doctors and administrators who ordered J & J products such as artificial knees and hips or prescribed the company’s drugs were rewarded in a variety of ways, including cash and travel benefits.
From 1998 to 2006, J & J earned more than $24 million in profits by bribing Greek doctors to buy surgical implants including artificial knees and hips, SEC said.
The company agreed to pay more than $48.6 million in disgorgement and prejudgment interest, as well as a $21.4 million dollar fine to settle related criminal charges announced by the Justice Department.
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