Pfizer...spanked for poor ethics

"Pfizer Pays $2.3 Billion to Settle Marketing Case"

by

Gardiner Harris

September 3rd, 2009

The New York Times

Top aides in the Obama administration announced a $2.3 billion settlement on Wednesday with the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. over the company’s illegal promotion of its now-withdrawn painkiller, Bextra.

It is the largest fine ever levied for fraud in the Medicare and Medicaid programs, and Obama administration officials — criticized by Republicans on Capitol Hill for failing to crack down on fraud in the government’s health programs — sought to highlight the case by having Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of health and human services, make the announcement. The agreement also includes some promotional practices involving other Pfizer drugs — Zyvox, Geodon and Lyrica.

The settlement had been expected. Pfizer, which is acquiring a rival, Wyeth, had reported in January that it had taken a $2.3 billion charge to resolve claims involving Bextra and other drugs. Pfizer shares were down about one percent at mid-day.

Marketing fraud cases against pharmaceutical companies have become almost routine, with almost every major drug maker having been accused of giving kickbacks to doctors or shortchanging the Medicaid program on prices. Prosecutors said that they had become so alarmed by the growing criminality in the industry that they had begun increasing fines into the billions of dollars and would soon start charging doctors individually as well.

Under the agreement with the Justice Department, Pfizer will pay a $1.3 billion criminal penalty related to Bextra and $1 billion in civil fines related to a number of medicines. In addition, a Pfizer subsidiary, Pharmacia and Upjohn Company, will plead guilty to violating the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act for its promotion of Bextra.

In January, prosecutors announced that they would fine Eli Lilly $1.4 billion for illegal marketing efforts on behalf of Zyprexa, an antipsychotic.

Although the fine amounts began to soar during the Bush administration, top administration officials rarely publicized the cases or appeared during news conferences about them. The Zyprexa case was announced by federal prosecutors in Philadelphia.

Ms. Sebelius’s decision to make the Pfizer announcement in a news conference in Washington suggests that the political environment for the pharmaceutical industry has become more treacherous, despite the industry’s commitment to save the government $80 billion as part of efforts to change the health care system.


Lexapro and Forest Laboratories...bad ethics