Amsterdam, Paris to host key EU agencies after Brexit

Yahoo – AFP, Danny KEMP, November 20, 2017

Amsterdam won a fierce fight to host the European Medicines Agency after it
leaves London, beating Milan in a tiebreak (AFP Photo/Aurore Belot)

Brussels (AFP) - Amsterdam and Paris on Monday won the fight to host two major EU agencies when they leave London after Brexit, in a suspenseful vote that eventually had to be decided by the drawing of lots.

The European Medicines Agency will relocate to the Dutch city, while the French capital will be the new home of the European Banking Authority.

The two watchdogs, with a total of 1,000 highly skilled jobs between them, are currently based in London's Canary Wharf district but must leave before Britain quits the EU in March 2019.

But the fate of the some most prized spoils of Britain's decision to quit the EU had to be decided by a lucky dip after three tense rounds of voting for both agencies failed to produce a clear winner.

Amsterdam won out against the Italian city of Milan while Paris beat the Irish capital Dublin.

"It was a big transparent bowl with two small lots, and it fell to me to draw the lot," said Matti Maasikas, the deputy EU affairs minister of Estonia, which holds the bloc's rotating presidency.

"The procedure was accepted by everyone and followed by the Estonian presidency to the letter."

'Attractiveness of France'

French President Emmanuel Macron said the choice of Paris for the banking regulator showed the "attractiveness of France".

EU President Donald Tusk said on Twitter before the vote that "whatever the outcome, the real winner of today's vote is EU27. Organised and getting ready for Brexit."

Diplomats compared the complex voting process to the annual Eurovision Song Contest. The production's nail-biting televised voting sequence is one of the most watched TV moments in Europe and is known for its come-from-behind surprises.

The Netherlands hailed the decision to relocate the EMA to Amsterdam as "good news for all patients in Europe".

"It took a while to make the decision and the selection process was intensive, but it shows that the EU27 is able to make good decisions, also after Brexit," Dutch Foreign Minister Halbe Zijlstra said.

The battle for both agencies has been bitterly contested, with governments jostling to win the backing of other countries with "hot bargaining" behind the scenes, a diplomatic source told AFP.

But it has also been deeply political. Carles Puigdemont, the sacked leader of Catalonia, said that Barcelona had been the "favourite" but that the "state had condemned it", blaming violence over the region's disputed independence vote.

There were 16 candidates to be the new home of the EMA, one of the world's most powerful drugs watchdogs, which employs 900 pharmaceutical experts, biologists and doctors from every corner of Europe.

There was a smaller batch of eight bidders for the EBA, the banking regulator with 159 staff members. The agency is perhaps best known for its regular "stress tests" on the EU's financial sector in the wake of the global financial crisis.

'Self-inflicted wound'

Member states brought out all the stops to extol the merits of their candidate cities, producing glossy brochures and videos and offering a host of perks.

"We also have a very stylish queen, and enjoy fish and chips," said a video for Amsterdam's bid, emphasising a continuity with two famed parts of British life.

The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, delivered an evaluation of the applications in September based on a range of criteria, from transport links to job prospects for spouses and schools.

But the staff of the agencies in question, already being forced to up sticks from London, had reportedly been nervous about some of the candidates, reportedly including Bratislava, Warsaw, Bucharest and Sofia.

For Britain the departure of the two agencies is an economic and political blow.

"For the UK, its loss is the first self-inflicted wound of Brexit," said the centre-right European People's Party, the largest group in the European Parliament.

Related Article:

Amsterdam wins race to host the European Medicines Agency

Amsterdam sweetens the pill with new building offer for European Medicines Agency

DutchNews, July 12, 2017

Amsterdam has made its official pitch to persuade the European Medicines Agency (EMA) to relocate from London to Amsterdam. Among the sweeteners was the promise of a new purpose-built office building in the city’s Zuidas business district, the Volkskrant reported on Wednesday. 

The competition to land the EMA has been compared to the Eurovision Song Contest, in that 18 cities are vying for a prize that will be announced in November. Amsterdam’s presentation in Brussels was headed by caretaker health minister Edith Schippers along with Amsterdam deputy mayor Kajsa Ollongren and ‘special ambassador’ Wouter Bos. 

Bos, a former finance minister, is now chairman of the VU University Medical Centre, and is known for saying: ‘May the best candidate win, and I am convinced that it is Amsterdam.’ 

The Dutch government said it would finance a €250m to €300m building for the EMA, which would then pay the market rate for the space. 

Ollongren said no special deals – low or no rent – would be on offer. She added these deals were unnecessary in Amsterdam, citing the Zuidas’s fast links to Schiphol airport, the availability of hotel rooms, expat help for EMA staffers and their partners and plans to increase the number of places in nearby international schools. 

For his part, Bos will visit the necessary European capitals to convince officials there that Amsterdam is the best location for the EMA. 

The EMA is a decentralised agency of the EU, which began operations in 1995. It is responsible for the scientific evaluation, supervision and safety monitoring of medicines developed by pharmaceutical companies for use in the EU. The agency has a workforce of some 900 people, mainly highly skilled, from all over Europe. 

Lille, Brussels, Copenhagen Stockholm, Dublin, Barcelona and Milan are among the other cities hoping to attract the EMA.

Jeremy Corbyn wins Britain's Labour party leadership contest

Britain's opposition Labour party has elected veteran left winger Jeremy Corbyn as its new leader. The one-time outsider succeeds Ed Miliband, who stepped down after the party's electoral defeat in May.

Avowed Socialist and anti-austerity advocate Jeremy Corbyn won 59.5 percent of the ballots cast, or 251, 417 votes, to take over the leadership position, the party announced at a special conference in London on Saturday.

He defeated three more centrist candidates. His closest rival, Andy Burnham, scored 19 percent. In all, party members cast 422,664 votes.

More 'decent society'

Addressing the party after the result, Corbyn said he wanted Labour to strive for a diverse, "decent and better society" open to all.

Corbyn, who has often voted against past party decisions, scored during the leadership campaign on a message of promising to increase state-funded investments and re-nationalizing parts of Britain's economy, including railways.

The defeated trio - Andy Burnham, Yvetter Cooper and Liz Kendall - were widely regarded as advocates of policies of former Labour Premier Tony Blair.

Labour out of power?

Critics, including Blair, had argued that Corbyn's socialist ideas and aversion to Britain's membership of the Western military alliance NATO, would alienate moderate voters and keep Labour out of power.

Corbyn only entered the contest at a late stage, saying he wanted to ensure wider debate among candidates.

Saturday's result means that he will debate head-to-head in the House of Commons every week with conservative Prime Minister David Cameron.

Advocate for the poor

Corbyn grew up in a political family. His parents met as activists during the Spanish Civil War. He worked for trade unions before being elected to the Commons in 1983.

Corbyn, who has never held major office but instead remained a serial backbench rebel, opposed the now deeply unpopular 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq that was advocated by Blair while in office.

Corbyn also opposes Cameron's austerity measures which have seen deep cuts to welfare and has in the past said he believes "we can learn a great deal" from Karl Marx.

ipj/sms (AFP, AP, Reuters)

Related Articles:

Britain's Lord Sewel resigns after cocaine and prostitutes scandal

Lord John Sewel apologised after pictures in The Sun newspaper

appeared to show him snorting cocaine with prostitutes (AFP Photo)

HSBC 'sorry' for aiding Mexican drugs lords, rogue states and terrorists

HSBC apologised for its lapses, said reforms had been put in place, and 

admitted it was 'horrified' by what it found. Photograph: Gary Cameron/Reuters

Drugmaker GSK fined $490 mn in China graft probe

Peter Humphrey (2nd left) at the Number One People's Intermediate Court

in Shanghai on August 8, 2014 (AFP Photo/People's Intermediate Court)

"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

“…5 - Integrity That May Surprise…

The Unthinkable… Politics, A Review

Humans will begin to search for integrity and fairness and it's going to happen in the places you never expect. I said this last week, so this is a review. There'll come a time when you will demand this of your politics - fairness and integrity. So when the candidates start calling each other names, you will turn your back on them and they won't get any votes. They're going to get the point real fast, don't you think? How about that?

Let me give you another potential. This country that I sit in right now [USA] will set the mold for that particular attribute. I have no clock. Watch for the youngsters to set this in motion, and they will, for they are the voters of tomorrow and they do not want the energy of today. To some of them, it's so abominable they won't even register to vote in this energy. You're going to see this soon. That was number five.. ..."

Police seize millions in huge fake Viagra swoop

Yahoo – AFP, 1 Sep 2014

A customs officer shows counterfeit Viagra pills at the Paris Roissy airport,

on February 9, 2009 (AFP Photo/Martin Bureau)

The Hague (AFP) - Police in several European countries on Monday arrested 12 people and seized millions of euros in assets in a swoop on counterfeit Viagra dealers, authorities said.

The operation against fake, prescription-only medicines, "mainly erectile dysfunction pills", involved police in Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Hungary and Britain, European justice organisation Eurojust said in a statement.

"Operations resulted in the seizure of several million pills with an estimated value well in excess of 10 million euros ($13.1 million), a large amount of cash and several vehicles, including luxury models, and the freezing of more than 7.5 million euros in bank accounts and assets," Eurojust said.

The counterfeit drugs were imported into the European Union from China and India and "often contain incorrect dosages and ingredients".

According to the European Alliance for Access to Safe Medicines, 62 percent of drugs bought on the Internet in 2011 were fake.

The Center for Medicine in the Public Interest, a US non-profit medical research group, estimates the traffic in fake medicine generated 55 billion euros globally in 2010, up 90 percent from 2005.

A study conducted by pharmaceutical giant Pfizer in 2010 showed that the European market for fake drugs was worth around 10.5 billion euros.

GSK China bribery probe should sound alarm for foreign firms

Want China Times, Xinhua 2014-05-17

GSK's offices in Tianjin, July 25, 2013. (Photo/XIinhua)

The latest development in the GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) China bribery saga is teaching foreign firms in China a fresh lesson on business integrity.

After more than 10 months of investigation, the case is ready to be handed over to prosecutors, authorities said Wednesday.

Police investigating the case have stated that the British drugmaker offered bribes to boost sales and inflated drug prices to allow for bribery expenses and high profits.

The probe not only revealed why some imported drugs in China are disproportionately expensive, but illustrated what happens when a company chooses to focus solely on profits instead of taking their corporate responsibility and their customers seriously.

Drugs are more than just commodities. They epitomize the social responsibility of manufacturers who work to cure diseases and relieve pain through research and development.

GSK's practices in China tainted both the company's reputation and its credibility worldwide. Mark Reilly, former head of GSK China, is believed to have pressed his sales teams to bribe hospitals, doctors and other medical institutions and organizations through various means, gaining billions in illegal revenue.

The company manipulated prices to disguise real costs. The actual cost of a box of Heptodin is 15.70 yuan (US$2.55). It is declared as 73 yuan (US$11.70) at customs and priced at 142 yuan (US$22.78) as factory price. In contrast, the drug sells at about US$2.89 in South Korea, US$4.17 in Canada and US$4.81 in the United Kingdom, according to a document acquired by Xinhua.

No matter how a company tries to disguise its practices, the truth will come out eventually.

Patients and the government had to foot the bill for these expensive drugs. The health of patients might also be at stake as some doctors had the incentive to prescribe excessive amounts to get more kickbacks.

GSK's practices eroded its corporate integrity and could cause irreparable damage to the company in China and elsewhere. The case is a warning to other multinationals in China that ethics matter. Increasingly attractive to foreign investors, more and more companies see China as their most important market.

These investors should learn to respect the Chinese market, at the very least by providing quality products at reasonable prices, abandoning discrimination and honoring their due corporate responsibilities.

For those profiteers, the market will eventually make its own choice.

Related Articles:

GSK bribery probe ends, former China head charged

GlaxoSmithKline accused of bribing doctors in Poland

Glaxo SmithKline accused of market 'abuse'

GlaxoSmithKline settles healthcare fraud case for $3 billion

Glaxo whistleblower goes public with shocking details of bribery, marketing fraud and other pharma crimes

Pfizer executives cashed in shares weeks before bid for AstraZeneca - New

Pfizer fined for paying bribes in E. Europe, China

"THE BRIDGE OF SWORDS" – Sep 29, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) - (Text Version)

“…I'm in Canada and I know it, but I will tell those listening and reading in the American audience the following: Get ready! Because there are some institutions that are yet to fall, ones that don't have integrity and that could never be helped with a bail out. Again, we tell you the biggest one is big pharma, and we told you that before. It's inevitable. If not now, then in a decade. It's inevitable and they will fight to stay alive and they will not be crossing the bridge. For on the other side of the bridge is a new way, not just for medicine but for care. Paradigms that have not yet been thought of, which don't represent any system that currently exists, will be created and developed by young minds who have concepts that the seniors don't know about. Things that don't have integrity today will fall over tomorrow. Just get ready. It's all part of what's on the other side of the bridge. And the old energy won't like it, and they will object. …”

GlaxoSmithKline accused of bribing doctors in Poland

GSK acknowledged the Polish allegations dating from 2010 after an investigation by the BBC's Panorama programme

The Guardian, Rupert Neate, Monday 14 April 2014

 

Shares in GlaxoSmithKline fell 1% to £15.43 after the Europe's largest
pharmaceutical company acknowledged the Polish allegations. Photograph
Warren Little/Getty Images

  

GlaxoSmithKline, the British drug company embroiled in bribery scandals in China and Iraq, has been accused of bribing doctors in Poland in the latest corruption furore to hit the business.

The company, which has made a series of public promises to "root out corruption wherever it exists" following allegations that it bribed doctors with £320m worth of cash and sexual favours in China, admitted on Monday in relation to the latest accusations.

GSK, which has repeatedly trumpeted its "zero tolerance" corruption policy as it battles to salvage its corporate reputation, only acknowledged the Polish allegations – which date back to 2010-12 – after an investigation by the BBC's Panorama programme.

Poland's fraud squad, the central anti-corruption bureau, on Monday said 13 people had been charged in connection with allegations of doctors being bribed to promote GSK's asthma drug Seretide.

The UK's Serious Fraud Office is also understood to be looking at the claims. "We are aware of the case," a SFO source said. The SFO refused to confirm or deny that it was investigating the matter.

The allegations, if proved, would breach the UK's Bribery Act and the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and could result in GSK being ordered to pay large fines.

Analysts at Panmure Gordon said: "In isolation, the events in Poland are trivial but evidence is building up of sharp practices in many areas of GSK's organisation which will impact sentiment significantly." GSK's shares dropped 1% to £15.43.

GSK admitted on Monday that it had brought in private detectives to investigate the Polish claims in 2011 and "found evidence of inappropriate communication in contravention of GSK policy by a single employee. The employee concerned was reprimanded and disciplined in 2011."

The company said it was continuing to investigate the claims and was "co-operating fully with the CBA". However, GSK failed to inform the public or its shareholders of the Polish investigation until Monday [today] despite chief executive Sir Andrew Witty promising to reform the organisation in the wake of the "shameful" and "deeply disappointing" allegations in China.

GSK only revealed details of the allegations following the Panorama investigation, broadcast on BBC1on Monday.

In the Panorama programme Jarek Wisniewski, a former GSK sales representative in the Polish region of Lodz, said GSK staff paid doctors to give speeches which did not take place. "We pay agreement for a speech, we pay £100 but we expect more than 100 prescriptions for this drug."

Wisniewski said his regional manager told them to do it, and that he blew the whistle to GSK. He said this resulted in his being sidelined at work and eventually sacked.

The public prosecutor for Lodz said: "We have evidence to claim in more than a dozen cases it was a camouflaged form of a bribe. In return for the financial gains the doctors would favour the product proposed by the pharmaceutical company and they prescribed that medicine."

GSK refused to explain why it did not publicly disclose the allegations before being questioned by Panorama. "We disclose significant cases in our annual report where they have the potential to have a material impact on the company," a spokesman said. The report lists a total of 161 staff violations of sales and marketing practices, resulting in 48 people being sacked or leaving the company and 113 formal warnings. In total, 375 employees were sacked or left voluntarily as a result of misconduct.

In December, Witty promised that GSK would stop making any payments to doctors. "We recognise that we have an important role to play in providing doctors with information about our medicines, but this must be done clearly, transparently and without any perception of conflict of interest," he said.

In 2012, GSK paid a record $3bn (£1.9bn) in fines to settle claims that bribed US doctors into prescribing antidepressants for non-approved uses.

Swiss vote against cap on executive pay: TV

Google – AFP, Jonathan Fowler (AFP), 24 November 2013

Members of the youth organization JUSO of the Swiss Social Democrats (SP) 

take part in a demonstration in favour of their imitative "1:12" to limit the amount of 

money companies pay their managers, in Zurich, on November 2, 2013 (AFP/File,

Fabrice Coffrini)

Geneva — Two-thirds of Swiss voters on Sunday rejected a referendum to cap executive pay at 12 times the wage of a firm's lowest earner, according to provisional results aired on local television.

The measure had been expected to fail, but the debate has tapped into a vein of discontent among Swiss voters who in March backed rules to rein in golden handshakes, in the wake of high-profile exit payments to top bosses.

Dubbed the "1:12" initiative after the legally-binding ratio it would set between the top and bottom salaries in a firm, the plan met with stiff opposition from Switzerland's business community and political right.

Members of the youth organization JUSO

 of the Swiss Social Democrats (SP) take

 part in a demonstration in front of a 

branch of Swiss bank Credit Suisse, in

 Zurich, on November 2, 2013 (AFP/File,

Fabrice Coffrini)

Ahead of the vote, its critics issued stark warnings that inscribing salary restrictions into the law would make the wealthy Alpine nation less competitive and break with a Swiss tradition of limited official meddling in business.

"There's a climate of mistrust towards those who make money," Jean-Claude Biver, boss of high-end watchmaker Hublot, told the Swiss daily Le Temps.

Christoph Darbellay, head of the centre-right Christian Democratic Party, told AFP he could understand disquiet over "undeserved salaries".

But voting Yes would be tantamount to "shooting ourselves in the foot", he insisted.

Switzerland's cross-party government had urged a No vote, saying a 1:12 law would dent tax revenues and scare off foreign firms.

Switzerland, which has long boasted a business-friendly climate coupled with one of the highest average salaries in the world, has largely avoided the economic crisis dogging the European Union, of which it is a staunch non-member.

The referendum campaign was spearheaded by the Socialist Party, plus the Greens and trade unions.

They rejected the criticism, arguing that it was time to clip the wings of the vastly overpaid, and underlining that an informal ratio of around 1:12 was the norm as late as 1998, before things went awry.

Under the direct democracy which is the core of the Swiss political system, the campaigners were able to put the issue to a plebiscite by collecting more than 100,000 signatures.

Members of the youth organization JUSO of

 the Swiss Social Democrats (SP) take part

 in a demonstration in favour of their initative

 "1:12" to limit the amount of money

companies pay their managers, in Zurich, on

November 2, 2013 (AFP/File, Fabrice Coffrini)

The debate led to intense scrutiny of bosses' pay packets, which the 1:12 proponents said were an average 43 times higher in 2011 than those on the bottom of the ladder.

According to 2012 figures published by the campaigners, the then boss of pharmaceutical giant Novartis made 219 times the lowest salary.

At banking group UBS, the lowest-paid employee would have had to work 194 years to make the same amount the head of its investment bank raked in 12 months.

The chief executive of rival bank Credit Suisse enjoyed a ratio of 1:191.

And at insurer Swiss Life -- whose chief is also treasurer of the Economie Suisse trade and industry lobby -- it was 1:60.

To hammer their message home, the campaigners plastered Switzerland with posters showing a single hamburger next to a towering stack of a dozen, reading: "12 times more salary, that's enough".

Related Article:

Switzerland to vote on $2,800 monthly ‘basic income’ for adults

Police reveal details of GSK China's alleged violations

Want China Times, Xinhua 2013-07-26

A GSK office in Tianjin. (Photo/Xinhua)

Police in China on Thursday revealed details of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) China's alleged bribery and tax-related violations that pushed up drug prices and disrupted market order.

After the Ministry of Public Security announced on July 11 that some employees from GSK China were being investigated for suspected bribery and tax-related violations, more individuals involved in the case, including salespeople and doctors, are now under investigation.

Xinhua has learned from police officers handling the case that they are suspected of offering bribes to doctors, asking them to prescribe more drugs in order to grow sales volume, and in the meantime pushing up drug prices.

OFFERING BRIBES TO DOCTORS

A man surnamed Li, 31, is a regional sales manager at GSK China in central China's Henan province and in charge of selling respiratory drugs to more than 10 hospitals in the province's capital city Zhengzhou.

He said before taking post, a GSK China salesperson will receive special training not only on information of specific drugs, but also sales skills and methods, especially how to maintain relations with hospitals and doctors.

In a bid to start their work, pharmaceutical representatives will have 10,000 yuan (US$1,667) of funds, and a namelist of doctors from all around the country and files on them.

They invited doctors to join high-end academic conferences to help the practitioners increase influence in their fields. They also established good personal relations with doctors by catering to their pleasures or offering them money, in order to make them prescribe more drugs.

A 35-year-old female medical representative surnamed Wang working under Li said she entered doctors' offices to act as their assistant, and meet their needs as much as possible, even their sexual desires.

Wang said GSK China's executives already knew this, and some executives gave clear directives to the sales department to offer bribes to doctors with money or opportunities to attend academic conferences.

ECONOMIC VIOLATIONS IN DISGUISE

Police said about 7%-10% of sales volume went to doctors' personal accounts. Once a doctor agrees to cooperate with GSK China, the company will establish the doctor's file and pay a bonus to the doctor based on his or her prescriptions of the firm's drugs.

For those doctors who avoid receiving money, GSK China's salespeople would invite them to academic meetings or lectures and provide them with gifts, free travel after meetings and lecture fees.

In fact, many doctors received lecture fees even when the lectures did not exist. Wang just forged lecture materials in order to obtain reimbursements from the company.

The police found that under GSK China executives' acquiescence and even encouragement in forged forms, pharmaceutical representatives reimbursed a large amount of money in the name of lecture fees, covering various expenses including travel and other entertainment, to help the company avoid legal risks.

TURNING DOCTORS TO DRUG SELLERS

Yu Fu (pseudonym), a respiratory department director of a reputable hospital (the name of which was not disclosed), became a client of Wang in 2011.

"When the GSK representative came to me, he told me their company was a leading one in the world, and attached great importance to academic activities," Yu said. "He told me the company also sponsored doctors to attend national or international conferences, covering their registration fees and travel."

Yu said, "After we got more familiar, Wang visited me at festivals, treating me to dinner and buying me gifts. When our department held events, Wang also paid the bill."

Later on, Yu recalled, Wang blatantly offered kickbacks to doctors, for example, 20 yuan (US$3.26) for each pack of Seretide, an asthma-treating inhaler; and 10 yuan for each dose of Flixotide, an asthma-treating spray. Wang made all doctors in Yu's department his clients.

According to Li and Wang, the company set the target of raising drug sales by 30 percent annually in the last two years, and the target can only be achieved by pushing doctors to prescribe more if there are no increases in the number of patients.

Yu said, "Generally speaking, hospitals are also inclined to prescribe more."

Wang said bribery related to expenses will push up the sale price of drugs.

On July 21, when Abbas Hussain, a president of GSK in charge of international business, met with a senior official from the public security ministry, he professed GSK's plan to adjust the company's business model to cut operational costs in drug prices.

Insiders said squeezing out the bribing cost in drug prices, curbing inflationary drug costs and excessive medical care will bring tangible benefits for consumers. The clampdown provides a good opportunity to tighten supervision.

Related Articles:

Beijing expands GSK bribery probe to other multinationals

GSK appoints new boss in China amid bribery scandal

GlaxoSmithKline says executives 'breached Chinese law'

Shanghai closes travel agency linked to GSK case

GlaxoSmithKline executive in China TV 'confession'

GSK China executives detained on bribery charges

GlaxoSmithKline 'the big boss' in £300m bribery scandal, China says
GSK may be kicked out of Hunan for 3 years on bribery charges

Four GSK China execs held for investigation

GlaxoSmithKline chiefs 'confess to bribing Chinese doctors'

GSK China under investigation for backhanders to doctors

GlaxoSmithKline accused of market 'abuse'

Glaxo whistleblower goes public with shocking details of bribery, marketing fraud and other pharma crimes

GlaxoSmithKline settles healthcare fraud case for $3 billion

Novartis shareholder revolt costs boss his $78m 'golden gag'

Swiss pharmaceuticals group cancels non-compete agreement with outgoing chairman Daniel Vasella after furious reaction

The Guardian, Shane Hickey, Tuesday 19 February 2013

Daniel Vasella had offered to give away some of the payment he was to receive
 to prevent him from giving advice to competitors after he steps down from the
Novartis board. Photograph: Pascal Lauener/Reuters

Shareholder activism over corporate pay has claimed one of its biggest victories yet after the Swiss pharmaceutical group Novartis was forced to abandon the award of a $78m "golden gag" non-compete payment to its outgoing chairman.

The UK investor advisory body, Pirc, said the move could inspire a repeat of last year's "shareholder spring" when a series of rebellions over pay forced out the chief executives of Aviva, AstraZeneca and Trinity Mirror.

Shareholders in Novartis reacted with fury over the weekend when it emerged that Daniel Vasella was to receive the payment – $13m a year over six years – to prevent him from giving advice to competitors after he steps down from the board this week. Vasella's attempt to deflect their anger by pledging to give some of the money away to philanthropic causes was unsuccessful, as investor anger became amplified by criticism from the Swiss public. On Tuesday, the company said the board of directors and Vasella had agreed to cancel the non-compete agreement in the light of the furious response.

"I have understood that many people in Switzerland find the amount of the compensation linked to the non-compete agreement unreasonably high, despite the fact I had announced my intention to make the net amount available for philanthropic activities. That is why I have recommended to the board that I forgo all payments linked to the non-compete agreement," Vasella said in a statement.

A spokesman for Pirc said the turnaround marked an important victory for shareholders in the UK. Pirc has recommended to its clients that they vote against every long-term bonus plan published this year. "Both the scale and the nature of the payment were clearly going to inflame investor and public opinion. Although the board has ultimately reached the right decision, this situation should never have arisen in the first place. As we gear up for the UK season, hopefully this victory will give shareholders here greater confidence that they, too, can successfully challenge inappropriate remuneration arrangements," the spokesman said.

The Novartis reversal comes as Switzerland prepares for its own equivalent of a shareholder spring, with a national referendum on 3 March to decide whether shareholders should wield a veto over excessive executive pay.

The backlash began among shareholders, the public and the business community last week when news of it emerged on a Swiss blog. On Monday, a criminal complaint was filed on behalf of shareholders against Vasella and the company's compensation committee for breach of trust and untruthful business information.

Roby Tschopp, head of shareholder group Actares, described the payment as an outrage.

In a statement on Tuesday, Novartis vice-chairman Ulrich Lehner said: "We continue to believe in the value of a non-compete; however, we believe the decision to cancel the agreement and all related compensation addresses the concerns of shareholders and other stakeholders. The board understands the importance of full transparency and will strengthen its efforts in this regard."

In the UK, Pirc's support was echoed by the Institute of Directors (IoD), which represents 37,000 company directors. It said the payment to Vasella had been difficult to justify and called on companies to pay attention to their shareholders.

"Such an exceptional payment could only be viewed as legitimate if it had the explicit support of shareholders – it evidently did not, and it is a good sign that they stood up and pressed their concerns home," said Roger Barker, head of corporate governance at the IoD. "Efforts to strengthen the role of shareholders in issues of executive pay in Switzerland are to be welcomed. Shareholder engagement with companies over key areas of governance, such as executive pay, is an important component of modern corporate governance and should be embraced by companies and boards."

Recent polls indicate that some 65% of voters in Switzerland are in favour of measures proposed in the forthcoming referendum which will ban "golden handshakes" for new staff and "golden parachutes" for those departing. If the proposals are successful, there will also be restrictions on the terms of board members to one year.

The main backer of the changes is Thomas Minder, a businessman who has campaigned against large-scale bonuses in Switzerland.

A growing backlash

The defeat of Daniel Vasella's $78m (£50.6m) non-compete agreement is the latest corporate pay reversal due to pressure from the public, shareholders and politicians. Here is a selection of other notable rebellions over executive pay.

Sir Bill Gammell Cairn Energy last year gave in to pressure from shareholders and dropped a plan to give the chairman and former chief executive a £3.5m reward package. The former Scottish rugby international had been due to receive a £2.5m share bonus and a £1m donation to charities of his choice after he completed the sale of a stake in the company's Indian assets.

Lord Hollick The former chief executive of United Business Media (UBM), then owner of the Express newspapers, announced in May 2005 that he would decline a controversial £250,000 bonus following investor disquiet.

While he had initially said he would take the money even after three-quarters of the company's shareholders voted against him, the Labour peer was reportedly shaken by some of the hostility shown to him.

Dick Grasso The former chairman of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) went from hero - for his swift reopening of the exchange following the September 11 attacks - to pariah in 2003 when he resigned amid outrage over his $140m pay deal.

However, after four years of litigation in what was described as one of the ugliest legal fights Wall Street has ever seen, a court ruled he could keep the amount he was paid.

Fred Goodwin The former chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland bowed to public anger in 2009 when he agreed to give up more than £200,000 of his pension. When the size of his pension emerged, it sparked a row between the government and the Treasury select committee, which blamed ministers for standing by as Goodwin was allowed to retire with an enhanced pension in the middle of a government bailout.

In the wake of the furore, Goodwin agreed to be paid a pension of £342,500 a year, down from £555,000 previously.

Families face battle with GSK over dangerous diabetes drug

Exclusive: Pharmaceutical giant resists claims despite settlement with victims in US

The Guardian, Sarah Boseley, health editor, Tuesday 29 January 2013

GlaxoSmithKline has agreed to payouts in US lawsuits alleging Avandia pills
could cause heart attacks. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

Thousands of families in the UK could be deprived of compensation for the death or harm of a relative caused by the diabetes drug Avandia, even though the British maker has agreed to pay billions of dollars to settle similar claims in the US.

The licence for Avandia was revoked in Europe, in September 2010, because of evidence that it could cause heart failure and heart attacks. The drug can still be prescribed in the US, but not to patients at risk of heart problems.

A scientist with the Food and Drug Administration estimated that Avandia could have been responsible for 100,000 heart attacks in the US.

The manufacturer, GlaxoSmithKline, has admitted concealing data about the damaging side-effects of the drug, and there is evidence of the drug's harmful effects. But, despite this, GSK is not prepared to settle claims in the UK without a court fight.

The history of drug litigation in the UK suggests that families might not easily get  compensation.

Daniel Slade, with the Express company of solicitors in Manchester, has 19 cases on his books and has begun proceedings against GSK in four of them.

The pharmaceutical firm has told the solicitors that it will contest the cases. In just one of the cases it has indicated a willingness to spend £600,000 on its defence, which, the solicitor says, would be a fraction of what the claim is worth.

"It is very disappointing," said Slade. "We anticipate that these claims do have a good prospect of success, but they still have to prove their case in the UK with suitable evidence. They are tasked with having to produce that evidence, including medical expert opinion. It is a burden one would have thought they might not have to go through."

He expected that, if GSK fought in the courts rather than settled outside, as it had done in the US, it would take years for bereaved relatives, or those who have been harmed, to get any sort of payment.

A spokesman for GSK said: "We have every sympathy for people with complications associated with diabetes and those who care for them, but unfortunately we are unable to comment on individual legal cases. We continue to believe that the company acted appropriately and responsibly in its management of Avandia."

Liz Thomas, policy manager at the patient safety charity Action against Medical Accidents, said it had "become increasingly difficult in the UK to challenge large corporations such as pharmaceutical companies, an incredibly expensive form of litigation".

Corporations have a vast amount of money at their disposal to contest legal cases, but legal aid is about to cease for medical negligence cases.

The Avandia cases in Manchester will be fought on a "no win, no fee" basis by Express solicitors.

The cases in the US were settled by GSK extremely quickly, said Thomas. "I would hope they would not take advantage [in Britain] of the inequality of arms."

Avandia was first introduced in the NHS in July 2000. It was given to people with type 2 diabetes whose glucose levels were no longer being properly controlled by the standard drugs – metformin and a sulphonylurea drug. Avandia could be prescribed with those drugs or on its own.

The drug, which generically is known as rosiglitazone, was designed to lessen the body's resistance to insulin. It was available as a standalone drug – Avandia – or in a combination with metformin, and known as Avandamet.

When both drugs were withdrawn by the European Medicines Agency, there were about 90,000 people taking them in the UK.

The first warnings of trouble with Avandia came in 2007, when a prominent US scientist, Steve Nissen, published data from a review of 42 clinical trials which had been carried out on the drug. The trials involved 28,000 patients, and showed that Avandia could cause heart attacks. Further trials, the results of which were published in 2010, found people on Avandia were 27% more likely to have a stroke, 25% more likely to have heart failure, and 14% more likely to die, than patients on an alternative diabetes drug.

Potentially yet more damaging for GSK was its guilty plea to federal charges of concealing data about the drug's side effects. Most of the data on the drug comes from GSK's own trials. In November 2011 GSK agreed to pay $3bn to the US government over the Avandia issue and to end investigations into its marketing of the antidepressants Paxil (Seroxat in the UK) and Wellbutrin.

"This is a significant step toward resolving difficult, long-standing matters which do not reflect the company that we are today," Andrew Witty, chief executive of GlaxoSmithKline, said at the time.

GSK is also still defending cases in the UK from people who claim to have been badly affected by Seroxat. A group action, involving people who say they suffered severe withdrawal problems when they tried to stop the drug, has been going on for years though many claims have been settled in the US.

The same is true of Vioxx, made by Merck, the painkiller that was withdrawn after it emerged eight years ago that it doubled the risk of a heart attack.

Related Articles:

GlaxoSmithKline settles healthcare fraud case for $3 billion

Drug giants fined $11bn for criminal wrongdoing


"The Recalibration of Dark & Light" – Feb 25, 2012 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Big pharma [the drug companies of America] are going to have to change very soon or collapse. When you have an industry that keeps people sick for money, it cannot survive in the new consciousness., Global Unity, ... etc.) - (Text version) 

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll)(Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it), Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse), Illuminati (Based in Greece, Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.)