Novartis Fined by South Korea Over Alleged Kickbacks
March 02 2017 - 8:16AM
Dow Jones News
By Denise Roland
South Korean authorities fined Novartis AG (NVS) 200 million won
($174,628) and banned the company from selling certain drugs for
three months for allegedly paying kickbacks to promote sales of its
medicines.
The country's Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said in a
statement on its website that it had imposed a three-month ban on
the sales of three drugs. The fine is in lieu of a ban on 27
further drugs.
The sales ban will be effective from March 17 to June 16,
according to the statement. The Ministry's decision relates to an
ongoing legal process in South Korea.
A Novartis spokesman said the company accepted the decision. "We
do not tolerate misconduct and are continuing to invest significant
efforts to fully embed a culture of compliance throughout our
Korean organization," he said.
In August, prosecutors indicted a former chief executive of the
South Korean unit of Novartis and five other former and current
managers over allegations they illegally paid doctors 2.6 billion
won in return for prescribing the company's drugs.
"We've previously acknowledged and expressed our regret that
certain associates in Korea took actions in violation of our
policies and inconsistent with our culture and the expectations
society has for us and our industry," said the Novartis
spokesman.
-Write to Denise Roland at denise.roland@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 02, 2017 08:01 ET (13:01 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Novartis (NYSE:NVS)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024
Novartis (NYSE:NVS)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024
