A major US drug manufacturer has been hit with the highest penalty ever paid to the US government in a case of health fraud.

Glaxosmithkline will have to pay three billion dollars and plead guilty for promoting two of its anti-depression drugs …. Paxil and Wellbutrin … for other uses that were not authorized by the government. It’s a practice known as off-label marketing.

The company also failed to report side effects of its diabetes drug, Avandia.

A spokesman says the government wanted to hit Glaxosmithkline with as heavy a payment as possible because drug companies tend to view fines as the cost of doing business.