Big Pharma’s Big Fines - GlaxoSmithKline, Eli Lilly, Abbott, Pfizer, Merck and more...

by Lena Groeger at www.propublica.org




On Monday, the Department of Justice announced that drug company GlaxoSmithKline agreed to pay a $3 billion fine, the largest health care fraud fine in the history of the United States. This fine is just the latest in a string of drug company penalties for improper promotion of drugs for “off-label,” or unapproved, uses. Here we take a look at six recent multi-million dollar fines that drug companies have agreed to pay for inappropriately, and in some cases illegally, promoting prescription drugs.

FINE (billions of dollars) ............

Eli Lilly

JAN 2009

Eli Lilly was fined $1.42 billion to resolve a government investigation into the off-label promotion of the anti-psychotic Zyprexa. Zyprexa had been approved for the treatment of certain psychotic disorders, but Lilly admitted to promoting the drug in elderly populations to treat dementia. The government also alleged that Lilly targeted primary care physicians to promote Zyprexa for unapproved uses and “trained its sales force to disregard the law.”


Pfizer

SEPT 2009

Pfizer was fined $2.3 billion, then the largest health care fraud settlement and the largest criminal fine ever imposed in the United States. Pfizer pled guilty to misbranding the painkiller Bextra with "the intent to defraud or mislead", promoting the drug to treat acute pain at dosages the FDA had previously deemed dangerously high. Bextra was pulled from the market in 2005 due to safety concerns. The government alleged that Pfizer also promoted three other drugs illegally: the anti-psychotic Geodon, an antibiotic Zyvox, and the anti-epileptic drug Lyrica.

AstraZeneca

APRIL 2010

AstraZeneca was fined $520 million to resolve allegations that it illegally promoted the anti-psychotic drug Seroquel. The drug was approved for treating schizophrenia and later for bipolar mania, but the government alleged that AstraZeneca promoted Seroquel for a variety of unapproved uses, such as aggression, sleeplessness, anxiety, and depression. AstraZeneca denied the charges but agreed to pay the fine to end the investigation.

Merck

NOV 2011

Merck agreed to pay a fine of $950 million related to the illegal promotion of the painkiller Vioxx, which was withdrawn from the market in 2004 after studies found the drug increased the risk of heart attacks. The company pled guilty to having promoted Vioxx as a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis before it had been approved for that use. The settlement also resolved allegations that Merck made false or misleading statements about the drug's heart safety to increase sales.

Abbott

MAY 2012

Abbott was fined $1.5 billion in connection to the illegal promotion of the anti-psychotic drug Depakote. Abbott admitted to having trained a special sales force to target nursing homes, marketing the drug for the control of aggression and agitation in elderly dementia patients. Depakote had never been approved for that purpose, and Abbott lacked evidence that the drug was safe or effective for those uses. The company also admitted to marketing Depakote to treat schizophrenia, even though no study had found it effective for that purpose.

GlaxoSmithKline

JULY 2012

GlaxoSmith Kline agreed to pay a fine of $3 billion to resolve civil and criminal liabilities regarding its promotion of drugs, as well as its failure to report safety data. This is the largest health care fraud settlement in the United States to date. The company pled guilty to misbranding the drug Paxil for treating depression in patients under 18, even though the drug had never been approved for that age group. GlaxoSmithKline also pled guilty to failing to disclose safety information about the diabetes drug Avandia to the FDA.

AIDS Cure Quest Advances as Merck Cancer Drug Attacks Hidden HIV

here is the key part of this Article:
"While no patients were cured,"
Are people just this blind? tested on 6 people and shows promise ..promise of WHAT?
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Phil Serafino at pserafino@bloomberg.net
To contact the reporter on this story: Simeon Bennett in Geneva at sbennett9@bloomberg.net

The 30-year quest for an AIDS cure advanced as scientists succeeded for the first time in attacking HIV in its hardest-to-reach hideouts with a cancer drug made by Merck & Co.

In a trial among six men with HIV, researchers led by David Margolis at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill used a dose of Merck’s Zolinza to rouse the virus from inside certain immune-system cells, where it evades regular AIDS drugs. That’s a crucial step toward eliminating the virus from the body. The findings were presented at a conference in Seattle today.

While no patients were cured, the trial shows that Zolinza, or similar drugs, may have the potential to purge the virus, Margolis said. He said he expects to hear from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration within “a couple of weeks” on approval for an additional test using more doses of Zolinza.

Merck vaccine scientist Dr. Maurice Hilleman admitted presence of SV40, AIDS and cancer viruses in vaccines

by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, Editor of NaturalNews.com

(NaturalNews) One of the most prominent vaccine scientists in the history of the vaccine industry -- a Merck scientist -- made a recording where he openly admits that vaccines given to Americans were contaminated with leukemia and cancer viruses. In response, his colleagues (who are also recorded here)break out into laughterand seem to think it's hilarious. They then suggest that because these vaccines are first tested in Russia, they will help the U.S. win the Olympics because the Russian athletes will all be "loaded down with tumors." (Thus, they knew these vaccines caused cancer in humans.)