Bangladesh: GSK Chairman & General Manager Could Face 7 Years in Prison

(Left) M Azizul Haque GlaxoSmithKline Chairman. (Right) Prakash (Prashant) Pandey GlaxoSmithKline General Manager

"For increasing sales, the accused adopted a host of heinous tactics."

It never rains but it pours.

Incidentally, I love rain.

None of the British media has picked up on this, or indeed any other country apart from Bangladesh.

The New Age of Bangladesh, a leading English language daily newspaper, is reporting that an arrest warrant against, M Azizul Haque, who is the chairman, and Prakash (Prashant) Pandey, who is the general manager of GlaxoSmithKline Bangladesh, has been issued for cheating consumers through deceptive advertisements of Horlicks.

Kamrul Hasan, who heads the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments in Bangladesh said, "For increasing sales, the accused adopted a host of heinous tactics."

GSK and heinous tactics, surely not?

This from the New Age:

Horlicks Classic Malt

On the label of Horlicks Classic Malt, Kamrul said, five signs of healthy growth are talked about — ‘bone circumference’, ‘strong muscle’, ‘heightened concentration’, ‘healthy blood’ and ‘gaining weight rightly’ — which are confusing and misleading.

The label also listed numerous health benefits of drinking Horlicks, including the strengthening of bones and muscle, development of the brain, improving metabolism and ‘blood health’ necessary for a strong immune system.

Kamrul said that the label even claimed that children might not get the necessary nutrition from regular food and their nutrition demand could be met by drinking Horlicks daily.

‘This is not medicine and a food item cannot ensure so many health benefits alone,’ observed Kamrul.

 Mother’s Horlicks

Staggeringly, on the label of Mother's Horlicks GlaxoSmithKline claimed, "it helps the baby grow in the mother’s womb."

GSK didn't just add these outlandish claims to the labels, Kamrul said, "GSK was seen making similar claims in adverts meant for television consumers and Facebook users."

This from the New Age:

GSK was cheating people by bringing to market a variety of Horlicks products, targeting different groups of consumers like women, children and mothers.

The verified Facebook page of Horlicks Bangladesh show mothers continuously interacting with its updates, mostly being similar advertisements, sharing their desire to feed Horlicks to their kids, often aged about three.

A warrant for the arrest of Azim Uddin Ahmed, chairman of Mutual Food Products Limited, the company responsible for processing and packaging of Horlicks in Bangladesh, was also issued.

If the allegations are proved, the accused will face seven years’ imprisonment or heavy fines, or both.

Here's an example of the misleading ad Glaxo have broadcast across Bangladesh.

A spokesperson for GSK said, "We have not received any notice on the mentioned issue from Bangladesh Food Safety Authority; hence are unable to comment on it now."

Bob Fiddaman