This is fantastic news as will be appreciated by those of you who have followed the unconscionable TGA litigation debacle against one of Australia’s biggest pharmaceutical companies and it’s owner, Jim Selim. (see my previous posts dated 23rd and 25th August 2008)

This case can but show the extreme danger of placing too much unfettered power into the hands of a government instrumentality and its bureaucratic minions, without the required checks and balances being in place. In the USA the very same problem exists with the FDA. Time and time again the FDA has exhibited considerable bias in favour of commercial entities, the major drug companies, from whom they received the greater part of their funding.

Charges dropped against Pan boss
September 19, 2008 - 11:07AM smh.com.au
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/charges-dropped-against-pan-boss/2008/09/19/1221331152024.html?sssdmh=dm16.335648

The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions has dropped four criminal charges against former alternative medicine tycoon Jim Selim. Mr Selim, the founder of Pan Pharmaceuticals, had been charged with failing to disclose material information relating to four separate board meetings.

Last month, Mr Selim won a $55 million compensation payment from the commonwealth government over the collapse of his company.

Pan Pharmaceuticals went into liquidation in 2005 after a decision in 2003 by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) to suspend its licence and withdraw 219 of its products.
Outside the court, Mr Selim said he felt vindicated by today’s decision and he would push ahead with preparations for a $200 million class action against the TGA over the collapse of the company in 2003.

“It’s good because here everything’s over, nothing’s left, there’s no deal or anything,” Mr Selim told reporters. “That’s the end of it.”

He said an apology from the federal government would mean a lot to him, following his “persecution” over the past five years. “I think so,” he said, when asked whether an apology should be forthcoming. “I was disappointed with the TGA from the start.”

His solicitor, Andrew Thorpe, said there was a “high degree of interest” from former customers and creditors of Pan Pharmaceuticals in pursuing a class action. “We believe that the sort of value of the class action will be in the order of $200 million and perhaps greater than that,” Mr Thorpe said.

There would most probably be hundreds of parties involved and a claim would be made on behalf of companies which lost money as a direct result of the TGA’s handling of the Pan matter, he said.

Mr Selim said it had been a “hard five years”, with today’s case the latest in a long series of court actions involving Mr Selim and Pan Pharmaceuticals.

“We hope justice will be done and we hope people who were damaged and hurt by the TGA action will get compensation, will get justice,” he said.
AAP

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