WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) — The U.S. Department of Justice announced Jan. 19 that Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Inc. has been ordered to pay $5 million in civil penalties by a federal court in New Jersey for allegations of failing to comply with the Poison Prevention Packaging Act (PPPA) and the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA).
“Dr. Reddy’s failed to ensure that children were protected from potentially harmful prescription drugs,” said Chad A. Readler, acting assistant attorney general of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, in a statement. “The government will continue to take seriously alleged violations of laws meant to protect consumer safety.”
In addition to the monetary penalty, Dr. Reddy’s must institute a compliance program to properly comply with the PPPA and the CPSA in the future. The company is banned from distributing household oral prescription drugs in a way that violates the two laws.
“Child-resistant packaging is a critical safety measure put in place to protect our country’s children,” said CPSC acting chairwoman Ann Marie Buerkle in a statement. “I appreciate and value the support from and collaboration with the Department of Justice.”
Handling the case for the Justice Department were trial attorneys Claude Scott and Shannon Pedersen of the Civil Division’s Consumer Production Branch, with assistance from assistant U.S.attorney in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Judith Amorosa, assistant U.S. attorney in the District of New Jersey Charles Graybow, and Patricia Vieira of the CPSC’s Office of the General Counsel.