Novartis on Wednesday had to correct comments made by Chairman Joerg Reinhardt to a Swiss newspaper, because his portrayal of conduct that led to a US$678 million U.S. settlement over kickbacks last year risked violating the agreement.
Novartis's settlement with the U.S. Justice Department in July 2020 resolved decade-old charges that it organised thousands of sham events, lavished doctors with speaker fees and wined and dined them to boost drug prescriptions.In a SonntagsBlick interview on March 6, however, Reinhardt objected when a reporter said Novartis had bribed U.S. doctors.
Reinhardt's comments were inaccurate, said Novartis, whose Chief Executive Vas Narasimhan has prioritized boosting Novartis's ethics performance, including by revising bonus schemes, after scandals over two decades that have cost it some US$2 billion hurt its reputation. Based on its commitments under the settlement, Novartis said it proactively contacted the U.S. Justice Department after concluding Reinhardt's interview comments were inaccurate and issued the correction after discussions with prosecutors over remedying the issue.
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