Health care products and pharmaceuticals company Johnson & Johnson (J&J) will pay USD 70 million in disgorgement and penalties after being accused by the US Securities and Ex­chan­ge Commission for having made illegal payments to doctors in several countries, Romania included. The company has reached an agreement with SEC and will pay the damages. The deal has been settled soon after SEC's disclosure, while Johnson & Johnson has said it voluntarily disclosed its suspicions regarding the illegal payments four years ago.

The SEC has recently said Johnson & Johnson has bribed doctors and pharmacists in Romania and in other countries to prescribe the company's medicine to their patients. The Romanian sibsidiary of the company has yet to respond to the accusations.

In Romania, Johnson & Johnson ranks 15th in the top of companies in the pharma industry, according to Cegedim Romania. Its market share is of 2 percent and its yearly sales on the Romanian market stay at around EUR 46 million. Worldwide, the company's turnover is of USD 61 billion.

editor@romania-insider.com

(photo source: BusinessWeek)