Justice ministry confirms legal aid requests in Greece-Novartis scandal
Switzerland’s Federal Office of Justice has confirmed it has received two requests for legal assistance from Greece and the United States linked to probes into Novartis and alleged bribes involving the Swiss drugmaker and Greek doctors and public officials.
This content was published on
2 minutes
SDA-ATS/RTS/sb
The two requests for legal assistance linked to the Novartis-Greek scandal were received at the end of last year and in January 2018 and are being studied, a justice ministry official confirmed to Swiss public television, RTS, and the Swiss News Agency on Saturday.
The Greek parliament announced on Tuesday the results of a judicial investigation into alleged bribes paid to public officials by Basel-based NovartisExternal link over nearly a decade to boost subscriptions of their products at public hospitals. The ten prominent politicians linked to the bribery scandal include two former Greek prime ministers and eight former ministers. They are alleged to have been involved in approving Novartis contracts and overcharging in return for kickbacks. All deny the allegations.
Greece’s Justice Minister Stavros Kontonis last year said Novartis had likely bribed “thousands” of doctors and civil servants to promote its products. He also accused Novartis of continuing to sell “overpriced” drugs even after the country was plunged into economic crisis in 2010 and huge cuts were imposed on state budgets, leaving many Greeks without access to affordable medicine.
Novartis overcharges alone are estimated to have cost the Greek state some €3 billion euros ($3.7 billion). Overall, similar practises across the health sector cost Greece some €23 billion between 2000 and 2015, investigators have said.
The Greek branch of Novartis has issued a statement saying it was “aware of the media reports about our business practices” in Greece and that it was cooperating with the authorities, the Swiss News Agency said.
More
More
Greece investigates Novartis for alleged bribery
This content was published on
Investigations into allegations of corruption against the pharma giant were announced following the attempted suicide of a Greek Novartis official.
Swiss football boss wants crackdown on individual hooligans
This content was published on
The head of the Swiss Football League says he prefers a harsher approach to individual hooligans rather than collective punishment measures affecting all fans.
Amherd: Council of Europe is ‘as urgently needed as ever’
This content was published on
The Swiss government emphasised on Sunday the vital role of the Strasbourg-based Council of Europe, 75 years after it was founded.
Swiss minister: Italy will back Switzerland in EU talks
This content was published on
Bern can count on the backing of Italy as it re-enters talks with the European Union on future relations, Viola Amherd says.
Student protestors at University of Lausanne continue pro-Palestine sit-in
This content was published on
Since Thursday, a hall on campus has been occupied by students calling for a boycott of Israeli academic institutions and a ceasefire in Gaza.
This content was published on
Swiss public broadcasters RTS and SRF are drastically reducing their communications via the social network X (formerly Twitter).
Israel: president of Swiss universities rejects academic boycott
This content was published on
Luciana Vaccaro, president of Swissuniversities, the umbrella group of Swiss universities, is not in favour of an academic boycott of Israeli universities.
This content was published on
Investigations into allegations of corruption against the pharma giant were announced following the attempted suicide of a Greek Novartis official.
This content was published on
Vas Narasimhan estimates that using digital technology more efficiently could save up to 25% on the cost of clinical trials.
This content was published on
The employees are believed to have offered illegal rebates and kickbacks to doctors amounting to 2.6 billion won (CHF 2.3 million) between 2011 and 2016. Altogether, 34 people – including 15 doctors and five heads of medical journals – have been included in the investigation, which began in February when authorities raided the Novartis Korea…
Will exclusive collaborations yield more drug breakthroughs?
This content was published on
Recently FDA-approved, Novartis's pioneering immunotherapy was developed through an agreement with University of Pennsylvania researchers.
This content was published on
Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis has dismissed claims from an internal whistleblower that it bribed Turkish officials.
Pharma turns to big data to gauge care and pricing
This content was published on
Struggling to keep pace with digitisation, big pharma companies are turning to big data to drive future growth. Swiss-based Novartis is no different.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.