Top officials suspended over drug license scandal in Italy

The two-year investigation uncovered evidence that money changed hands in return for the falsification of clinical data required for drug licences. The discovery led to the suspension of Nello Martini, director of Aifa (the Italian Agency for Pharmaceuticals), and Caterina Gualano, head of medicines registration for the agency.

The scandal was unravelled during the routine comparison of a branded medicine and its generic equivalent. It was later found that the generic drug had undergone fewer tests than were officially claimed and that data supporting the product had been falsified.

The scandal threw suspicion over 30 medications, mostly thought to be generic products and prompted investigation from the Turin prosecutor Raffaele Guariniell. Mr Guariniell is reportedly investigating 12 deaths that might be linked to the products.

Although a panel appointed by the Italian government found no evidence of any harm done to the public on account of the suspected drugs, it refused to part with the names of the investigated drugs.

PharmaTimes quoted Carlo Rienzi, president of Codacons, the umbrella organization of Italian consumer protection groups, as saying: “The public has a right to know which medicines were marketed without the proper controls or as a result of pay-offs.”