On its Tuesday broadcast, the CBS Evening News reported on former Ranbaxy executive Dinesh Thakur, who “was asked by his boss to investigate allegations of fraud at the company” in 2004. He soon “uncovered disturbing problems with the data required by the FDA to prove the effectiveness of Ranbaxy drugs.” According to Thakur, the company had “gotten approvals from the FDA to sell drugs that were based on no data, or data that was fraudulent.” After presenting his finding to Ranbaxy executives in 2005, Thakur “says nothing was done,” so he “blew the whistle to the FDA.”

The CBS News (11/6, Miller, 3.87M) website reports the FDA investigation uncovered a “persistent … pattern” by Ranbaxy of submitting “untrue statements.” Auditors found that the applications of at least 15 new generic drugs contained over 1,600 data errors, leading the FDA to conclude the company’s products were “potentially unsafe and illegal to sell.” The investigation that was launched in the wake of “Thakur’s allegations led Ranbaxy to plead guilty to seven felonies.”