The U. S. Department of Justice recovered $3 billion for American taxpayers as a result of civil suits brought after whistleblowers came forward and reported on pharmaceutical companies' illegal activities. The payout is the largest health fraud settlement in U.S. history. Drug maker Pfizer pled guilty to felony violations of the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act and was fined $2.3 billion (yes, "billion" with a "b") for aggressively marketing its painkiller Bextra far beyond uses approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Bextra was pulled from the market in 2005 due to safety risks. Astra Zeneca paid $302 million for cajoling doctors into writing prescriptions for unapproved uses of its anti-psychotic drug Seroquel, including treatment of insomnia, anger management and post-traumatic stress disorder. Astra Zeneca also paid kickbacks to doctors as part of the illegal scheme to market the Seroquel for unapproved uses. The government also recouped $192 million from Novartis and $108 million from the Health Alliance of Greater Cincinnati and its former member-hospital, The Christ Hospital, for misconduct under the health care Anti-Kickback Statute.
via prwatch.org
1 comment:
We just have to be careful with medicines online without a prescription and used to treat chronic pain as painkillers hydrocodone, Vicodin, Lorcet, Lortab as they are effective but as Findrxonline says should be taken in moderation and have dangerous side effects.
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