GlaxoSmithKline has agreed to pay $105m to more than 40 US states to settle allegations of unlawful marketing, ending a long saga in which the UK company was accused of providing lavish incentives for salesmen and doctors to promote its drugs for unauthorised purposes.

英国制药集团葛兰素史克(GlaxoSmithKline，简称：GSK)已同意向美国40多个州支付1.05亿美元，以了结对其非法营销的指控，从而结束了一场旷日持久的诉讼战，GSK被控向销售人员和医生提供慷慨的激励举措，以推销其药物用于未经批准的用途。

The settlement involves largely the same allegations that led GSK to pay a record $3bn to the US federal government in 2012 after the Department of Justice revealed details of how the company entertained doctors in Hawaii and hosted sales conferences in Las Vegas to encourage unapproved uses for its drugs.

这一和解协议所涉及的指控，与2012年GSK与美国联邦政府达成和解时的指控大致相同，当时GSK向美国联邦政府支付了创纪录的30亿美元。当时美国司法部(Department of Justice)公布了相关细节，表明GSK曾夏威夷款待医生，并承办在拉斯维加斯的销售会议，以鼓励其药品用于未经批准的用途。

The settlement, with 44 states including California, New York and Florida, comes a week after the UK’s Serious Fraud Office said it had opened an investigation into GSK following Chinese allegations of “massive and systemic bribery” by the company.

这一和解协议是GSK与美国44个州达成的，包括加州、纽约州和佛罗里达州，一周前，针对中国方面对GSK“大规模系统性行贿”的指控，英国严重欺诈办公室(Serious Fraud Office)表示，将针对GSK启动调查。

GSK stressed there was no connection between the US and Chinese cases. However, both show how GSK continues to be buffeted by fallout from allegations of past misdeeds even as Sir Andrew Witty, chief executive, tries to cast the company as a leader in ethical reforms in the pharmaceuticals industry.

GSK强调，美国与中国的案子之间毫无关联。然而，这两宗案子都表明，GSK仍在继续因过去错误行为的指控的影响而受到打击，尽管GSK首席执行官安伟杰爵士(Sir Andrew Witty)在努力将公司塑造为制药行业道德改革的领袖。

The US settlement involves a practice known as “off-label marketing” in which drugmakers push medicines for uses beyond those approved by the regulator.

美国的和解协议涉及一项被称为“核准标示外营销”的惯例：制药商鼓励药物用于未获得监管机构批准的用途。

In GSK’s case, this allegedly included promoting Advair for use by all asthma patients rather than only by the acute patients for which it was licensed. The company’s antidepressants, meanwhile, were touted for conditions ranging from obesity to sexual dysfunction, the states said.

根据指控，在GSK的案例里，这一行为包括鼓励Advair药物用于所有哮喘患者，而非只是许可范围内的急症患者。与此同时，美国各州表示，GSK的抗抑郁症药物被推销为适用于很多病症，从肥胖到性功能障碍。

After the states’ settlement on Wednesday, Roy Cooper, attorney-general of North Carolina, said: “Drug companies have an obligation to market drugs only for purposes that are safe and effective. The drug approval process is designed to protect the health of consumers and it’s important that process is followed.”

在GSK与美国44个州周三达成和解后，北卡罗来纳州总检察官罗伊•库珀（Roy Cooper)表示：“制药公司有责任在推销药物时让药物仅用于安全和有效的用途。药物审批过程旨在保护消费者健康，遵守这一过程很重要。”

GSK said the settlement did not imply any admission of wrongdoing or liability. Trumpeting its marketing overhaul, the company said it was the first in the industry “to commit to fundamental reforms of its business model”.

GSK表示，这项和解协议并不代表该公司承认存在任何过错或责任。GSK大力称赞其营销改革，表示这是该行业首次“致力于业务模式的重大改革”。