GSK plc — Ethics Grade C+

GSK plc receives an overall ethics grade of C+ (58/100) on CancelCo's corporate accountability database. Sector: Pharmaceuticals. Market cap: Large Cap.

Category scores

• labor: 60
• privacy: 65
• consumer: 30
• environment: 70
• humanRights: 65

Documented incidents (3)

• Largest US Healthcare Fraud Settlement (high, 2012) — GSK pleaded guilty to criminal charges for promoting Paxil and Wellbutrin for unapproved uses and failing to report safety data for Avandia. They paid a record-breaking $3 billion settlement.
• China Bribery Scandal (high, 2014) — Chinese courts fined GSK nearly $500 million after investigations revealed a systematic network of bribery involving travel agencies and pharmaceutical sales reps to influence doctors and hospitals.
• Zantac Cancer Lawsuits (high, 2022) — GSK faced thousands of lawsuits alleging that the heartburn medication Zantac contained a cancer-causing impurity (NDMA), which the company allegedly failed to disclose for years.

Documented good deeds

• Malaria Vaccine Rollout — Successfully spearheaded the distribution of the Mosquirix vaccine, the first malaria vaccine for children in sub-Saharan Africa.

Ethical alternatives

• Roche Holding AG — Consistently higher ranking in the Access to Medicine Index and pharmaceutical R&D ethics.