Roche controversies
Controversies tied to this brand in public sources. A listing is not a finding of fault.
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2020
Romania fines Roche over alleged anti-competitive conduct involving cancer medicines
Fine or penalty
Romanian antitrust authorities fined Roche $14 million for tactics they said impeded competition to two cancer medicines. The article reports allegations involving pricing to distributors bidding to supply a national cancer-medicines program and hospitals.
Source excerpt
ollowing a two-year investigation, Roche (FRHHBY) was fined $14 million by antitrust authorities in Romania for using different tactics to impede competition to a pair of its cancer medicines, the latest effort by European governments to crack down on anti-competitive practices.
In one instance, Roche allegedly monopolized the market for Rituxan and Herceptin by undercutting rival bidders in auctions that were held to supply a national program for cancer medicines as well as hospitals.
1976
Seveso dioxin contamination
An accident at a chemical facility operated by a Roche subsidiary released dioxin near Seveso, Italy. The incident caused extensive contamination and became a landmark case in European industrial and environmental regulation.
1973
European price-fixing allegations
A Roche employee, Stanley Adams, contacted the European Economic Community with evidence alleging that Roche had participated in pharmaceutical price coordination. The episode led to legal and institutional controversy involving competition policy and corporate disclosures.
1940
Forced labor and wartime conduct
Roche's German and Polish operations used forced labor during the Second World War. Historical accounts also describe the relocation of Jewish employees to the United States, while the company's wartime conduct remains subject to ethical scrutiny.