80,000 Novartis Paychecks $$$

It's been interesting to read so many opinions by those who seem to want to see this company punished for that which many of us know to be true. Some actually have records, correspondence, names and dollar amounts of not only honoraria, but also exact numbers of monies paid out for the "speaker programs". Info already being supplied to DOJ I am sure. Sadly, Novartis elite management seems to have a very short memory from years ago....at least 10 or more. Some of us in the field, not so short. Time to pay up Novartis....your absolute disrespect for loyalty, tenured and awarded employees may come back to bite you from behind.

Wishing you the best dear management.....not!!!

 

It's a mischaracterization to state employees want the company punished (although many probably do for personal reasons). Most sane people want fraudulant activity that rips off the global healthcare system to stop & the perpetrators to be held accountable legally , criminally & in whatever other forms are permissable. When you see the same patterns of misconduct over decades & you can go back to the days of quid pro quo bribes to psyches leading to a vast over prescribing of ritalin & changing of treatment guidelines/diagnosis running globally though todays current bribes, bogus trials, pay to play schemes, FCA violations it's clear there is an ethically rotted, morally challenged & criminally structured managment that feels the occasional fines justify this globally destructive conduct

 

Interesting commentary re:employees hoping to see Novartis hammered for their unethical promotion of products. Curious.....how many layoffs occurred during the bloodshed that went on for years? I wonder if some of the money spent on programs could have kept those individuals working. My guess is that those most interested in seeing heavy and painful punishment might be those tossed aside during very bad economic times.

 

You have an unusual way to spin this on to the employees conflating 2 seperate situations. Terminated employees personal feelings Vs corporate directed illegals activities. One has nothing to do with the other. People that break the law or subvert a system need to be held accountable. The beginning & end of the story.

 

It's easy to say whatever needs to be said at any given moment......I am a Hillary supporter. However....I disagree with your assessment. Have you also been contacted for evidence or do you happen to be one of the paid insider Novartians? Next shoe to drop is IRS investigation of paid "gunslinger speakers".

 

LOL you're full of crap , like you'd really be picked at random by the DOJ for anything other than dropping off donuts. Lay off the bottle pops

 

This will open up a huge pandora's box
Can't wait to see how reps, mgrs & docs line up

Imagine a company that puts their CUSTOMERS through this
debacle let alone their (likely former) employees

NVS has no clue the shitstorm they will face

The docs will never forgive them for this stain & embarressment
Wonder is NVS can pay their legal expenses?

 

Hello....retired, but not from Pharmaceutical industry. I have been reading from time to time some of the posted messages on this site because I have a good friend who worked for Novartis. She has been telling me about some of this and she is a bit worried, but, has been asked/told to comply with the NY DOJ office for records relating to this investigation. She has quite a bit of knowledge as well as records as it relates to these programs in that she was directly involved with the budgets, how much was paid to each physician, and many details of everything involved. Somehow they (DOJ) got her name and contacted her. She says many of those that did what she did have been contacted and have supplied documents. I just do not think it is a random process because from what she says, it is quite targeted for both the inside company employees as well as those like her who worked in a particular geography. I don't own stock in this company but I know she does and is worried. Just my two cents worth. Now, off to the driving range.

 

Like the litany of past novartis legal blunders this latest hubris will end swimmingly when the DOJ uncovers that one piece of evidence that moves them way beyond wanting to settle & going the way of GSK & winning triple damages with a successful trial & then the novartis leadership team will perform verbal gymnastics to the shareholders trying to justify the multi billion dollar judgement. If i'm a hedge fund manager or institutional investor or any other kind of fund, pension, individual investor, whatever I bail out of novartis stock like yesterday

 

80,000 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Six Novartis Executives Charged In Illegal Drug Rebate Scheme In South Korea

by Richard Smallteacher, Special to CorpWatch
August 11th, 2016

​

Six executives of Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis have been indicted in a South Korean bribery scandal. The indictments follow similar charges in China, Turkey and the U.S. and allegations of falsifying drug trial data in Japan. Korean prosecutors have recommended that Novartis sales be suspended for six months.

One of the six executives charged in the scandal is Moon Hak-sun, who was first hired as a clinical test manger in 1994 and rose through the ranks to be appointed CEO of the South Korean subsidiary last September, the first Korean national to get the top position. "I will make utmost efforts to deepen my understanding about the Korean market and find ways to satisfy the needs of our customers," he announced at the time of his appointment.

Less than a year later, the Seoul Western District Prosecutor’s Office charged that Moon was implicated in a scheme to offer kickbacks to doctors who attended seminars hosted by medical journals in return for recommending Novartis products. All told, 20 billion won ($18 million) was allegedly paid out. A total of 15 doctors and the heads of five medical journals were investigated for their role in the scandal in addition to the Novartis executives.

"We have acknowledged and regret that certain associates in Korea conducted small medical meetings and other scientific-related activities through trade journals, in violation of our policies and inconsistent with our culture and the expectations society has for us and our industry," Klaus Ribbe, the CEO of the global company, said in an official statement. "However, we reject the implication that the alleged conduct was sanctioned by the most senior management of Novartis Korea."

A financial analyst, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Korean Times that Moon was probably 'a scapegoat for his non-Korean predecessors.'

The South Korean government has not sought to detain Moon under the indictment but Novartis has suspended him from his job.

Certianly the company has been accused of similar practices around the world. In 2015, Novartis paid $390 million to settle charges that it paid bribes to specialty pharmacies in the U.S.

This past March, Novartis paid out $25 million to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to settle charges that company employees paid bribes to doctors in China, in violation of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

U.S. regulators say that Novartis flew 20 Chinese health care professionals and their spouses to a medical conference in Chicago in 2009. Company officials also allegedly provided the doctors $150 in “walking around” money, took them to strip clubs and to see the Niagara Falls.

The month before Novartis settled charges in China, a whistleblower in Turkey came forward to say that the company paid Alp Aydin Consultancy $290,000 plus expenses in 2013 and 2014, to get sweetheart deals from government officials. The consultancy was accused of arranging for government hospitals to buy Novartis drugs as well as a successful effort to get government permission to rename two company drugs. The latter scheme helped Novartis win $50 million in orders because the new names no longer showed up in international price comparisons.

The company has refused to comment on the Turkish allegaations. "As a matter of policy, we don't comment on such investigations even if the complainant decides to make them public," Eric Althoff, a company spokesman, told Reuters. "We take any allegation of inappropriate behavior extremely seriously and investigate all allegations thoroughly."

Meanhile in Japan, Novartis is battling charges of falsifying drug trial data. The company has been accused of altering clinical test results for Diovan, a blood-pressure drug. Other employees have been accused of shredding documents and hiding severe side effects of a leukemia drug.

"If some of them have destroyed documents, it's a pure violation of our code of conduct and that employee has to leave as soon as we discover that," David Epstein, head of the firm's pharmaceutical division, said at the time. "I'd like to once again apologize for Novartis' involvement in this issue." Epstein has since left the company.

 

how many checks have been doled out for Untrusto??????

 

This is a farce. Pharma has been over regulated for years. It's embarrassing to think doctors were swayed by pens, pads, and booze. Sales at every other company includes wine and dine and good relationship building. My neighbor in a different industry takes his clients hunting, pays for it all, and it's publicly accepted as normal perks of the job. What's scary is half the reps are buying into this scrutiny and over regulation nonsense and following the mass media charge. WAKE UP you drones.....PROTECT your job and industry and stand up to all this regulation before your career is wiped out. Doctors and reps unite! Stop getting run over.

 

Thanks Hillary , keep the foundation pumping !

 

Yet.. we ALL work here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Worrying about our longevity..............
WTF is the message !!!!!!!!!!!!
MONEY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Simple.
Got some complex social/marketing reply ?????????????????
sssiiiggghhhhhhhhhhhhh
:-(
We are all ASSHOLES !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Been there...am there.
:-((