Here is the Danish article translated:
Danish top manager in violent legal settlement: Can be punished with a fine of two billion
berlingske.dk/virksomheder/dansk-topchef-i-voldsomt-retsopgoer-kan-blive-straffet-med-boede-paa
August 26, 2020
COMPANIES
The pharmaceutical giant Teva, led by Kåre Schultz, denies having done anything wrong in a huge case of price fraud in the USA, where several other copy companies have admitted their guilt and paid large compensation. Now the Danish top manager is on his way into a rare and risky showdown with the US Department of Justice, which could cost the Israeli company a fine of around two billion kroner.
The Danish top manager Kåre Schultz, who heads the Israeli pharmaceutical company Teva, has once again ended up in a heavy legal crisis in the USA. Photo: Amir Cohen / Reuters / Ritzau Scanpix
The Danish pharmaceutical boss Kåre Schultz, who is top manager in Teva, the world's largest producer of counterfeit medicine, is now at the forefront of a huge lawsuit over price fraud with medicines in the USA.
Kåre Schultz and Teva, unlike a number of other pharmaceutical companies, have refused to reach an agreement with the US Department of Justice in a larger case complex, where several companies are accused of having cheated with prices for a number of pharmaceutical preparations.
This means that Teva is heading for a highly unusual legal settlement that could cost the Israeli company fines in the billions.
The US Department of Justice on Tuesday presented three very specific charges against Teva. Each charge could cost the Israeli pharmaceutical company a $ 100 million fine - approx. DKK 630 million - or up to double the amount that Teva must have earned by, as the indictment reads, in collaboration with other companies, having artificially raised the prices of medicines.
"Today's indictment reaffirms that no company is too large to be prosecuted for its role in conspiracies that led to significantly higher prices for generic drugs used by millions of Americans," the statement said. Ministry of Justice.
Teva was founded in 1901, has its global headquarters in Israel and today has around 42,500 employees.
The company has a portfolio of more than 3,500 medical products.
Teva is the world's largest manufacturer of copy medicine and in 2015 completed a gigantic acquisition of competitor Allergan Generics for $ 40.5 billion.
It was this acquisition that made Teva the world's undisputed largest copy company.
At the same time, however, the acquisition has indebted Teva quite heavily. Therefore, under Danish Kåre Schultz, the company embarked on a major horse cure that reduced the copy giant's costs by more than DKK 19 billion over a two-year period.
FOLD OUT
In a statement, Kåre Schultz and Teva flatly deny that the company has done anything wrong. At the same time, the pharmaceutical company declares itself disappointed that the US government has now driven the big legal guns into position.
"The company has been investigating this case for over four years and has concluded that Teva did not participate in the illegal pricing," Teva said.
If the hammer were to end up falling over Teva, Kåre Schultz would be left with a huge challenge, as a gigantic fine from the US Department of Justice is something close to the last thing the 59-year-old medic boss needs.
Because even though Kåre Schultz has succeeded in shrinking a major debt heap in Teva by several billion kroner, it is still the case that the Israeli pharmaceutical company's net debt is about five times as large as operating earnings.
The escalating case of possible price fraud in the USA hits Teva and Kåre Schultz at a time when the company is already struggling with two major lawsuits in particular, which have taken the air out of the Danish top manager's master plan for the rebuilding of the Israeli pharmaceutical giant.
In one lawsuit, Teva is accused of having played a role in a case involving the sale of so-called opioids: a painkiller that, according to US authorities, has created an epidemic crisis in the United States.
In the autumn of 2019, a threatening showdown with more than 2,700 US states, cities and municipalities caused Kåre Schultz and Teva to offer a settlement worth more than DKK 150 billion, which primarily consisted of the value of a certain type of medicine that can detoxify opioid-dependent patients. .
However, that case has not yet been closed.
In another huge lawsuit, Teva is accused of leading a major conspiracy of pharmaceutical companies that for a period from 2013 to 2015 illegally collaborated to raise the prices of their products.
This is at least the claim from a total of 44 US states, which in a 524-page lawsuit have identified Teva as the main culprit in an illegal cartel collaboration, which was coordinated through numerous correspondences by telephone and e-mail and further developed during regular 'industrial dinners'. «, Parties and golf excursions.
News 
Market Data 
Discover 
