Since 1991, the pharmaceutical industry has paid at least $19.8 billion to settle hundreds of criminal and civil complaints related to the negligence and illegal marketing of drugs that kill or injure more than a million Americans every year. The AMA reports that, if tracked like real diseases, adverse drug reactions (ADRs) would rank between the fourth and sixth leading cause of US mortality – far above the alleged risks of HIV infection.
These facts are no accident. As long as the drug and healthcare industries continue to profit from preventable errors, complications and ADRs, the fines will be viewed as little more than a corporate tax – paid for by the consumers and taxpayers who suffer at the hands of these corporations.
This evening, CBS 60 Minutes covered the Glaxo corruption and the retaliation against the whistleblower who reported it.
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