GlaxoSmithKline sued for false advertising regarding AZT pricing

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation has filed a lawsuit against drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline claiming that the company has engaged in false advertising by saying that it supplies anti-HIV medications to developing countries at cost, Reuters Health reports. The lawsuit, filed in California superior court, claims the company is deliberately making false claims to "induce consumers, insurers, and investors" to purchase the company's products and stock. Glaxo's preferential pricing program, launched in 2000, provides discounted anti-HIV medications to developing countries. But AHF says that because generic versions of the same drugs sell at a lower price than Glaxo's discounted medications, the claims that the company provides the medications at cost are false. Glaxo officials refuted the foundation's charges and called the lawsuit a publicity stunt.