Greece is demanding 214 million euros in compensation from Novartis for an alleged corruption scandal in which the Swiss pharmaceutical giant is suspected of selling its drugs at exorbitant prices, the health minister said on Friday.
Suspicion of corruption of Greek doctors in 2006-2015
Tanos Plris said the lawsuit was based on “moral damage to the Greek state as a result of the actions already taken by the company in the United States regarding bribery of doctors”. He added that Greece reserved the right to make further demands, adding that “all (existing) sanctions against Novartis will be applied for its illegal practices.” The pharmaceutical company is suspected of bribing Greek officials-doctors from 2006 to 2015 to sell its pharmaceutical products at high prices, even when cheaper solutions were available.
In the US, the company agreed to pay about 336 million dollars to stop the lawsuits. At the time, the US Department of Justice had announced that Novartis’s Greek subsidiary had admitted to bribing public hospital staff from 2021 to 2015 to boost its sales. The supposed goal was to gain a dominant position in the Greek market – high prices, despite the economic crisis in Greece. According to Greek officials, these methods cost the Greek state over 3 billion euros in overpriced drugs. The case sparked a political upheaval in Greece after protected witnesses testified against a number of Greek politicians and officials posing as Novartis accomplices. However, the Greek magistrates’ investigation has so far failed to gather enough evidence to initiate proceedings.
Source: Le Figaro
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