In a record settlement, the U.S. Justice department announced on September 2nd that a settlement has been reached in its prosecution of fraudulent activities by the pharmaceutical company Pfizer and its subsidiaries. The charges included fraudulent marketing and related fraudulent medical insurance claims, as well as kickbacks to healthcare providers for prescribing Pfizer medicines. Pfizer has agreed to pay $1.3 billion in criminal fines and $1 billion for civil violations. Pfizer illegal drug promotion activities included the medicines Bextra, Geodon, Zyvox, and Lyrica. The civil settlement will have Pfizer pay $669 million to Federal agencies and $331 million to state Medicaid programs.
Many of the charges involved promotion of drugs for uses that were not approved by the FDA or other regulatory bodies that set medical treatment standards. This practice of promoting medications for a variety of conditions where benefits and risks have not been sufficiently studied, in order to increase sales and profits, has become a common form of unethical behavior by pharmaceutical companies. Unfortunately, company practices are difficult to monitor. The Pfizer case had been investigated for years following whistleblower tips about the illegal activities. Even when caught and forced to accept fines for these activities the companies may still reap profits well beyond the cost of fines and litigation. Government funds for research and drug development continue to be provided to companies that have been caught engaging in criminal activities, so it seems that existing penalties are not a sufficient deterrent to effectively diminish these corrupt practices.
As within other categories of crime, the abuses exposed in cases such as this one involving Pfizer may be merely the tip of the iceberg. Corruption of drug research, FDA approvals, and product marketing is seen by some as being so entrenched in the health care system that little information about drugs provided to doctors and consumers can be considered reliable. This distrust of pharmaceutical drugs is fueling a growing public demand for natural supplements and alternative therapies. Yet, even in these areas there are profit motives involved and cases of unethical activity that consumers need to be aware of. The best way for consumers to protect themselves is to find a variety of information sources and learn to discern which information is most accurate and reliable. Even a government free of corruption would likely not have adequate resources to effectively police corrupt corporations.
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