NEW YORK AP – Drug maker Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. said Monday it pleaded guilty to two counts of making false statements to the Federal Trade Commission regarding the company’s botched settlement with Canadian drug maker Apotex Inc. over the blood thinner Plavix.
As a result, Bristol-Myers will pay a fine of $1 million, resolving a Justice Department probe. The company acknowledged that an unnamed “former senior executive” led Apotex to believe that Bristol-Myers would not launch a competing generic version of Plavix if Apotex agreed to a settlement, and implied that then-chief executive Pete Dolan shared his views. This information was not disclosed to the FTC.
