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More than 4700 Italian doctors, managers, and employees of the British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) are to face allegations of crimes ranging from giving and receiving illicit compensation for prescribing or recommending a specific drug through to corruption and criminal association.
These allegations are the result of a two year investigation by the tax police in Verona (BMJ 2003;326: 413). GSK itself is accused of fiscal fraud and corporate crime.
The inquiry involved all 94 Italian provinces and brought to light a complex monitoring system that allowed GSK's sales representatives to monitor prescription attitudes of each individual doctor closely. This enabled them to...