B-MS to pay $89M to settle lawsuits
Bristol-Myers Squibb has agreed to pay $89 million dollars to settle four lawsuits brought against it relating to wholesaler inventory and other accounting matters, as well as the firm's investment in and relationship with ImClone Systems and the cancer drug, Erbitux (cetuximab).
The US drug giant, which has made no admission of wrongdoing as part of the settlement, noted that the $89 million would come out of a $140 million litigation reserve. However, the firm said it would have to further boost its reserves this quarter for further settlements, which will impact the company's operating result. An additional $110 million has already been added to the pot this year [[10/05/05b]].
Last summer, B-MS agreed to pay $150 million to settle US Securities and Exchange Commission charges that it used dubious means to artificially inflate its sales and profits [[05/08/04a]], [[04/08/04d]]. The firm also agreed to pay some $300 million dollars to resolve a class action lawsuit that accused the firm of artificially boosting its earning, and lied about its investment in ImClone [[02/08/04c]].
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