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Violation Tracker Individual Record

Company: AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP
Current Parent Company: AstraZeneca
Penalty: $354,900,000
Year: 2003
Date: June 20, 2003
Offense Group: government-contracting-related offenses
Primary Offense: False Claims Act and related
Mega-Scandal: Improper Drug Marketing
Violation Description: AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP pleaded guilty in federal district court in Wilmington, Delaware and agreed to pay $354.9 million to resolve criminal charges and civil liabilities in connection with its drug pricing and marketing practices with regard to Zoladex, a drug used primarily for the treatment of prostate cancer. AstraZeneca agreed to pay a criminal fine of $63.9 million as part of pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate the Prescription Drug Marketing Act by causing to be submitted claims for payment for the prescription of Zoladex which had been provided as free samples to urologists. AstraZeneca agreed to settle its federal civil False Claim Act liabilities and to pay the U.S. government $266.1 million to resolve allegations it caused false and fraudulent claims to be filed with the Medicare; another $24.9 million was to be paid to states to resolve similar claims concerning Medicaid.
Level of Government: federal
Action Type: agency action
Agency: Justice Department Civil Division
Civil or Criminal Case: civil and criminal
HQ Country of Current Parent: United Kingdom
Ownership Structure of Current Parent: publicly traded
Major Industry of Current Parent: pharmaceuticals
Specific Industry of Current Parent: pharmaceuticals
Source of Data: (click here)
Source Notes: If an online information source is not working, check the Violation Tracker Data Sources page for an updated link.
Current parent company note: Parent-subsidiary relationship is current as of the most recent revision listed in the Update Log.