Drug Industry Is Biggest Defrauder of Federal Government

[defendandprotect]

Drug Industry Is Biggest Defrauder of Federal Government

Step aside, defense industry; there’s a new defrauder in town. Pharmaceutical companies have accounted for more payouts under the False Claims Act than any other industry. Drug companies have deliberately overcharged for medications and sold drugs for unapproved uses. In the past 20 years, Big Pharma has paid $19.8 billion in financial penalties. Spoiler alert: 75 percent has been paid out in the past five years alone.
READ our report.

http://www.citizen.org/hrg1924



---------------------------


This is from today's PUBLIC CITIZEN's "CITIZEN DIRECT" --

but it has long been known -- thanks to Sen. Bernie Sanders frequently bringing it to our

attention. And thought it should be in the records here.



And some older info from Sen. Bernie Sanders on this subject --

We pay higher prices than any other nation for prescription drugs --

And I ask, if we are permitting these criminal corporations to stay in business and
sell drugs to Medicare/Medicaid patients, why we don't have some continuing penalty
on them? You know, a surcharge?


AVENTIS - $95 million for violation of the Medicare? false claims act
Sanofi Aventis

GALAXO Smith Klein - $14 million to California
Plus $88 million in civil fines for overcharging Medicare
Signed a Corporate Integrity Agreement

HOFFMAN LA ROCHE -
'99 Leading worldwide conspiracy $500 million criminal fine -
for raising and fixing prices on certain vitamins

JOHNSON & JOHNSON -- Texas Attorney General brought charges -
huge fine -- for funneling kick backs to Texas health officials

PFIZER . . .
'09 -- Jury found Pfizer violated Medicaid fraud law 1.4 million times
Potential fines between $140 million and $21 billion

'02 - paid $49 million for defrauding Medicaid in overcharging for Libitrol -
(a subsidiary of Pfizer)

Smith Klein - guilty of overcharging Medicaid

Warner Lambert /div Pfizer -- agreed to pay $430 MILLION - pled guilty to felonies
fraud in promoting a drug for unapproved use - $240 million of that is for criminal
charges

Wyatt --
'09 -- 16 states joined together in whistleblower suits --
failed to pay hundreds of MILLIONS in rebates to the Medicaid program

[stray cat]

1. Sounds like medicare and Medicare needs to be careful in their spending

Government has a responsibility to taxpayers to prevent fraud in their programs

[defendandprotect]

2. Looks more like we need to assess penalties on drug companies that defraud government ...

and NOT permit them to do future business with government --

Big Pharma is already ripping off Medicare based solely on their

overpricing of drugs sold to Medicare --

Overpricing which Obama has just cemented in place for Big Pharma in

his back room deals with them!

[glinda]

3. Husband's generic drug is the same cost as the regular drug. Pharma is raking

in lots just off of things like that.

[notesdev]

4. The bigger part of the scandal

is that our government helped them set up shell corps to plead guilty to offenses so the parent corps wouldn't be barred from federal contracts as any other business who defrauded the government would be.

http://articles.cnn.com/2010-04-02/health/pfizer.bextra_1_bextra-pfizer-and-pharmacia-generic-drugs/2?_s=PM:HEALTH

From the article:

"So Pfizer and the feds cut a deal. Instead of charging Pfizer with a crime, prosecutors would charge a Pfizer subsidiary, Pharmacia & Upjohn Co. Inc.

The CNN Special Investigation found that the subsidiary is nothing more than a shell company whose only function is to plead guilty."

[defendandprotect]

5. Wow -- didn't know that .... but love how our government accommodates criminals.... !!!