Boots and BASF accused in Canada
In Canada, a lawsuit filed in Ontario's Superior Court of Justice claimsthat Boots Pharmaceuticals Inc, BASF AG and its subsidiary Knoll Pharmaceutical concealed the results of a study in order to control the market for thyroid drugs, reports the Toronto Star.
The suit says the study, conducted in 1990 by researchers at the University of California at San Francisco, had concluded that the companies' thyroid drug Synthroid (levothyroxine sodium) was no more effective than generic versions. Boots objected to the findings and blocked their publication until April 1997, when they finally appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association (Marketletter May 26, 1997).
60 class-action lawsuits have been filed against the companies in the USA over the issue, which are due to be settled in April for $87.4 million, although with the companies admitting no wrongdoing.
This article is accessible to registered users, to continue reading please register for free. A free trial will give you access to exclusive features, interviews, round-ups and commentary from the sharpest minds in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology space for a week. If you are already a registered user please login. If your trial has come to an end, you can subscribe here.
Login to your accountTry before you buy
Free
7 day trial access
- All the news that moves the needle in pharma and biotech
- Exclusive features, podcasts, interviews, data analyses and commentary from our global network of life sciences reporters.
- Receive The Pharma Letter daily news bulletin, free forever.
Become a subscriber
£820
Or £77 per month
- Unfettered access to industry-leading news, commentary and analysis in pharma and biotech.
- Updates from clinical trials, conferences, M&A, licensing, financing, regulation, patents & legal, executive appointments, commercial strategy and financial results.
- Daily roundup of key events in pharma and biotech.
- Monthly in-depth briefings on Boardroom appointments and M&A news.
- Choose from a cost-effective annual package or a flexible monthly subscription
The Pharma Letter is an extremely useful and valuable Life Sciences service that brings together a daily update on performance people and products. It’s part of the key information for keeping me informed
Chairman, Sanofi Aventis UK
Today's issue
Company Spotlight
Copyright © The Pharma Letter 2025 | Headless Content Management with Blaze