Court fines Boehringer $1m for ‘gross inadequacy’ of recordkeeping

The shift to digital documents has solved some record keeping difficulties, but  also created a whole new set of opportunities for accidental or malicious  errors. Boehringer  Ingelheim learnt the consequences of such mix-ups this week when a U.S.  court fined it almost $1 million for failing to preserve “countless” files. A litany of information technology failings prompted the fine. Boehringer was  asked to present documents by attorneys prosecuting 1,700 cases against its  blood thinner Pradaxa, but the judge now overseeing the consolidated lawsuits  was unimpressed by its response. The judge ruled the German drugmaker “allowed  countless records to be destroyed” by failing to ensure text messages were kept.  Company phones were programmed to automatically delete messages, and texts on  employees’ personal devices were erased too. Read more: FierceBiotechIT, December 12, 2013