AstraZeneca Seroquel - crime wave continues - It's just business as usual

AstraZeneca is at it again, as has been suspected and predicted for decades now....the profitable business as usual model of running a criminal enterprise without accountability or consequences has been encouraged by our government & continues unabated. Remember those DOJ "get out of jail free" slap on the wrist fines, the supposed CIA (Corporate Integrity Agreement), and the ongoing laughable & unjust Seroquel civil litigation....nothing has changed; It's still always profits before public health, profits before law, profits before anything....As AstraZeneca is bragging in their quarterly stock holder statement about how profitable they are....there is always the following types of criminal behaviors going on in the background...how does anyone negotiate a reasonable settlement with these documented serial criminals...You might start to wonder how far & deep this profitable crime wave runs?
....and now on to the latest episode of "Corporate Criminals Without Borders"

Financial Times Reports - AstraZeneca indicted in Serbian corruption case

October 27, 2011 10:46 am

AstraZeneca indicted in Serbian corruption case

By Andrew Jack, Neil MacDonald and James Crabtree

AstraZeneca has been served with a criminal indictment by the Serbian authorities as part of a widening probe into alleged bribery by several pharmaceutical companies in the Balkan country.

The Anglo-Swedish drug group said it had filed legal objections with the courts requesting them to drop the actions since receiving the indictment in August, which relates to “allegedly improper payments to physicians.”

The action follows the arrests last year in Belgrade of senior officials at the Serbian Institute for Oncology and Radiology, as well as the heads of the Belgrade offices of AstraZeneca, Roche, Actavis, Sanofi-Aventis and PharmaSwiss, concerning payments of around €550,000 during 2007-09.
It comes as US and UK authorities are stepping up scrutiny of alleged corruption beyond their own borders, which has already led to a $70m settlement reached with Johnson & Johnson earlier this year concerning misconduct in Greece, Romania and Poland.

The news came as AstraZeneca posted third-quarter results in line with expectations while unveiling a higher, narrower 2011 core earnings per share target of between $7.20 and $7.40 per share. The company cited favourable exchange-rate movements and fewer shares outstanding following recent buy-backs as part of the reason for the increase.

In fresh disclosures on litigation, it also said it received earlier this month a subpoena from the US Department of Justice “in connection with an investigation of the possible submission of false or otherwise improper pricing information to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.”