County of Santa Clara v. GlaxoSmithKline

Overview

On February 26, 2010, the County filed a lawsuit seeking restitution and civil penalties against pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (“GSK”) over GSK’s false advertising of its diabetes drug Avandia. The County’s suit alleges that GSK violated California’s false advertising law, Business and Professions Code § 17500, by conducting a decade-long marketing campaign to promote its diabetes drug Avandia as safe and effective, while it suppressed evidence that Avandia significantly increases patients’ risks of heart attacks and other life-threatening cardiovascular problems.