If a doctor or a nurse in a state-run hospital can be considered as such — and, according to the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission, they can — then employees of global pharma companies interact with foreign officials thousands of times each day.
Two recent court rulings have largely reinforced this view, and Johnson & Johnson’s $70 million settlement in April over charges it engaged in a multi-year scheme to bribe doctors and hospital administrators appears to be the opening act in a wide-ranging probe into the industry.
Read more: New Rules: For Pharma, ‘Foreign Official’ Is A Bitter Pill — WSJ Corruption Currents
