KV Pharmaceutical’s Ethex unit pleads guilty to charges from manufacturing problems

KV Pharmaceutical’s Ethex unit pleads guilty

ST. LOUIS — The Ethex generic drug unit of KV Pharmaceutical Co. has pleaded guilty to two criminal charges that it failed to promptly inform regulators about dangerous manufacturing problems.

Federal prosecutors say Ethex did not alert regulators about problems with its oversized tablets of a heart medication and one used to treat attention deficit disorder in children.

The company pleaded guilty Tuesday in U.S. District Court in St. Louis.

Ethex was fined $23.4 million and ordered to reimburse $2.3 million to Medicare and Medicaid for their drug purchases.

KV Pharmaceutical said last week it will shut down its Ethex unit and that it looked forward to restoring normal business operations.