Last month Indian generic drug giant Ranbaxy Inc. was hit with a $500 million fine the largest penalty ever against any generic company after reaching an agreement with the Department of Justice.
The penalty resulted from the sale of several common drugs which Ranbaxy knew were of substandard quality. As part of the agreement, the company admitted knowing about the manufacturing problems, and submitting fraudulent records to the FDA to cover it up.
This is hardly an isolated incident with Ranbaxy. In fact, it pales by comparison to some of the company s other dirty laundry so horrible that it reads like a crime novel.
ACSH was very fortunate to get an exclusive interview with pharmaceutical uber-blogger Derek Lowe, who discusses generic drugs in general, and also gives some blood-curdling details about the inner workings of Ranbaxy that will leave you shaking your head.
ACSH s Dr. Josh Bloom says, The fact that no one has gone to jail for this is mind-boggling. Derek s interview makes it perfectly clear that this is very far from a trivial matter. It is all but certain that Ranbaxy s criminal actions have caused many needless deaths especially in Africa.
We encourage you to watch Derek s fascinating, but deeply disturbing interview. Just have a bottle of Maalox handy.