The state-owned 21st Century Business Herald in Guangzhou, citing an unidentified person, reported that the French company paid 503 doctors a total of $274,000 to prescribe Sanofi products, disguising the payments as grants for research programs.

China’s official Xinhua News Agency said on Saturday that the Beijing municipal health bureau was teaming up with disciplinary authorities to look into the research programs and determine whether the payments were actually bribes.

Sanofi did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

According to the 21st Century Business Herald report, Sanofi said it took the claim “very seriously” and had started to investigate the allegations.

The investigation of Sanofi comes as China’s drug regulator has started a crackdown on misconduct in the country’s pharmaceutical market.

Chinese police detained four employees of the British drug maker GlaxoSmithKline in July on suspicion of paying bribes to doctors and hospitals to encourage them to prescribe drugs.

In China’s dysfunctional health system, low salaries and skimpy budgets drive doctors, nurses and administrators to make ends meet by accepting money from patients, drug suppliers and others. The practice has long been common knowledge.

The Chinese cabinet’s planning agency has also announced that it is investigating production costs at 60 Chinese and foreign pharmaceutical manufacturers.

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/12/business/global/sanofi-being-investigated-for-bribery-by-china.html?partner=rss&emc=rss