Report: Glaxo bribed doctors in Poland

Pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline is accused of bribing doctors to prescribe medicines in Poland, a media report said.

A "Panorama" show to air this evening on the BBC quotes a former sales representative for the company saying doctors there were paid to prescribe its drugs. A different representative said doctors were paid to give speeches and then expected to increase prescriptions.

The British drug company faces corruption probes in China and Iraq. It said in a statement it is cooperating with investigators and that one employee had been disciplined in 2011 for inappropriate actions.

In Poland, prosecutors said today they are investigating a case in which a foreign pharmaceutical company offered bribes to doctors in central Poland asking them to prescribe their medication. They said 13 doctors have been charged with accepting bribes.