Details of GSK China's alleged violations revealed

BEIJING - The Chinese police 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 (MPS) 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 ($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.