Drug giant GlaxoSmithKline will plead guilty and pay $3 billion to settle federal criminal and civil inquiries into the illegal marketing of Paxil and Wellbutrin, as well as failing to disclose safety information to the Food and Drug Administration, the Associated Press reported.

The Justice Department announced the largest health care fraud settlement in U.S. history Monday morning. The company also agreed to monitoring by officials for the next five years to ensure compliance.

"Let me be clear, we will not tolerate health care fraud," Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole said at a Justice Department press conference.

GlaxoSmithKline CEO Sir Andrew Witty said these crimes occured in a "different era" of the company but he promised "they cannot and will not be ignored."

GlaxoSmithKline improperly marketed drugs for off-label purposes and plied doctors with gifts, such as expensive resort vacations and concert tickets. The company also withheld information which revealed an increased risk of congestive heart failure and heart attack with the diabetes medication, Avandia.

The company's guilty plea and settlement still have to be approved by a federal court in Massachusetts. 

 

Read the whole story at Associated Press.

Reach Executive Producer Dawn Megli here; follow her on Twitter here.