A New Zealand court has ordered GlaxoSmithKline ($GSK) to pay a community pharmacy for the cost of contacting patients who had purchased Marevan after a recall.
GSK recalled the anticoagulant in January 2010 because manufacturing problems caused some tablets to exceed the specifications for the active ingredient. A court ruled for one pharmacy that it should receive reasonable compensation.
The legal action against GSK was supported by the Pharmacy Guild of New Zealand, which now claims the company is refusing to honor it.
"GSK told the court that IJPL would be treated as a test case. This means that other pharmacies could rely on the decision for their own payment," says the guild's Chief Executive, Annabel Young. "GSK is now not willing to honour this decision."
GSK did not respond to a request for comment from FiercePharmaManufacturing.
The guild's executive said GSK'S behavior is "clouding" the issue of payments in future recalls. The New Zealand website, Voxy.co.nz, reports the guild intends to create a "How to kit" for members who want to take their invoices to the New Zealand Disputes Tribunal, where a referee hears cases and makes a binding decision.
- here's the story
- get the recall release