Dr. Rath Health Foundation

Responsibility for a healthy world

New York State v GlaxoSmithKline

On February 13th 2003, exactly eleven days after the publication of Dr Rath's first Open Letter exposing the financial interests behind the pharmaceutical 'business with disease' New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer filed a complaint in the Supreme Court of the State of New York against GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) for making fraudulent and deceptive misrepresentations that conceal the true average wholesale price of its drugs from consumers, Government agencies and drug price reporting services.

US Government health plans such as Medicare, Medicaid and EPIC (Elderly Pharmaceutical Insurance Coverage Program) base reimbursement for covered drugs in large measure on the average wholesale price. Consumers pay a coinsurance or co-payment for drugs reimbursed by Medicare, Medicaid and EPIC.

As a result of GSK’s misrepresentations, doctors and other healthcare providers are improperly induced to prescribe GSK’s drugs and government payers and consumers, including the elderly and the catastrophically ill, pay artificially inflated sums for chemotherapy and other drugs.

The Attorney General of the State of New York has brought this action to stop GSK’s 'illegal and deceptive actions' and to 'obtain restitution for the consumers and state government agencies defrauded by GSK.'

The ongoing public information initiative conducted by Dr Rath and this Foundation through the worldwide publication of Open Letters has enabled governments, the media and anyone who is against the practices of the 'business with disease' to take action and be openly critical of that industry, without fear of the threat of a legal backlash.

The pharmaceutical industry is now fair game!

A copy of the Complaint in PDF format may be downloaded here.