Big Pharm History of Fraud and Fines
Segment # 088
It is absurd for the FDA, CDC, NIH or any government official supposedly working for us to pretend the pharmaceutical industry has any credibility. Considering the FDA and CDC have aided Pfizer and Moderna in hiding their test data and have issued Emergency Use Authorization for these vaccines is proof in itself that corruption is systemic. For big Pharma fines are a budget line item and just the cost of doing business. Big Pharma has, is , and will kill US citizens for their profit. Why would you ever trust any industry with this track record below which is just two decades and it excludes Sackler and Oxycontin?
Pfizer
Violation Tracker Current Parent Company Summary
https://violationtracker.goodjobsfirst.org/parent/pfizer
Current Parent Company Name: Pfizer
Ownership Structure: publicly traded (ticker symbol PFE)
Headquartered in: New York
Major Industry: pharmaceuticals
Specific Industry: pharmaceuticals
Penalty total since 2000: $10,268,623,165
Number of records: 90
Notes: Parent-subsidiary linkages are based on relationships current as of the latest revision listed in the Update Log, which may vary from what was the case when a violation occurred. The penalty totals are adjusted to account for the fact that the individual entries below may include both agency records and settlement announcements for the same case; or else a penalty covering multiple locations may be listed in the individual records for each of the facilities. The totals are also adjusted to reflect cases in which federal and state or local agencies cooperated and issued separate announcements of the outcome. Duplicate or overlapping penalty amounts are marked with an asterisk in the list below.
Links: Subsidy Tracker data on financial assistance to this company by federal, state and local government agencies can be found here.
For an overview of assistance this company is receiving under the CARES Act, see its Covid Stimulus Watch summary page here.
Individual Penalty Records:
Click on the company or penalty amount for more information on each case.
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American Home Products - $3,750,000,000
drug or medical equipment safety violation
2002
private lawsuit-federal
off-label or unapproved promotion of medical products
2009
FDA
False Claims Act and related
2016
DOJ_CIVIL
drug or medical equipment safety violation
2004
private lawsuit-federal
drug or medical equipment safety violation
2008
private lawsuit-federal
Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Inc. - $490,900,000
off-label or unapproved promotion of medical products
2013
FDA
off-label or unapproved promotion of medical products
2004
FDA
Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, Inc. - (*) $371,351,180
False Claims Act and related
2016
MULTI-AG
Pfizer, Inc. - (*) $331,485,170
kickbacks and bribery
2009
MULTI-AG
drug or medical equipment safety violation
2013
private lawsuit-federal
Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, Inc. - (*) $257,400,000
off-label or unapproved promotion of medical products
2013
MULTI-AG
Warner-Lambert - (*) $190,000,000
off-label or unapproved promotion of medical products
2004
MULTI-AG
King Pharmaceuticals - $124,000,000
False Claims Act and related
2005
DOJ_CIVIL
King Pharmaceuticals - (*) $124,000,000
False Claims Act and related
2006
MULTI-AG
off-label or unapproved promotion of medical products
2008
MULTI-AG
drug or medical equipment safety violation
2012
FDA
Pfizer Corporation - $49,000,000
False Claims Act and related
2002
DOJ_CIVIL
off-label or unapproved promotion of medical products
2012
MULTI-AG
False Claims Act and related
2010
DOJ_CIVIL
False Claims Act and related
2019
IL-AG
Pfizer - $35,000,000
off-label or unapproved promotion of medical products
2014
MULTI-AG
Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories Division - $30,000,000
drug or medical equipment safety violation
2000
FDA
Pharmacia Corporation - $29,453,247
False Claims Act and related
2013
WI-AG
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
2012
SEC
False Claims Act and related
2018
DOJ_CIVIL
Pfizer Inc. - (*) $21,084,700
False Claims Act and related
2002
MULTI-AG
Pharmacia & Upjohn Company Inc. - $19,700,000
kickbacks and bribery
2007
USAO
Pharmacia Corporation - $18,960,210
False Claims Act and related
2019
IL-AG
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
2012
SEC
False Claims Act and related
2013
TX-AG
Pfizer H.C.P. Corporation - $15,000,000
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
2012
DOJ_CRIMINAL
Pharmacia & Upjohn Company LLC - $15,000,000
kickbacks and bribery
2007
USAO
off-label or unapproved promotion of medical products
2011
FDA
drug or medical equipment safety violation
2014
NV-AG
Alpharma Inc. - (*) $8,900,000
False Claims Act and related
2010
MULTI-AG
Pfizer, Inc. and Pharmacia Corporation - $8,200,000
False Claims Act and related
2010
HI-AG
drug or medical equipment safety violation
2003
MULTI-AG
drug or medical equipment safety violation
2012
OR-AG
Pfizer Inc. and Pharmacia Corp. - $2,900,000
False Claims Act and related
2012
ID-AG
Pfizer Inc. - (*) $2,621,154
False Claims Act and related
2011
MULTI-AG
price-fixing or anti-competitive practices
2004
FTC
Pharmacia Corporation - $2,500,000
False Claims Act and related
2011
NY-AG
King Pharmaceuticals LLC - $2,200,000
environmental violation
2013
EPA
KING PHARMACEUTICALS - (*) $2,200,000
environmental violation
2013
EPA
Purepac Pharmaceutical Co., n/k/a Actavis Elizabeth, LLC - $2,010,667
False Claims Act and related
2011
MS-AG
benefit plan administrator violation
2013
private lawsuit-federal
employment discrimination
2009
private lawsuit-federal
environmental violation
2008
EPA
consumer protection violation
2019
OR-AG
PFIZER GLOBAL MANUFACTURING - (*) $975,000
environmental violation
2008
EPA
price-fixing or anti-competitive practices
2004
MULTI-AG
Pfizer Pharmaceuticals LLC - $728,000
environmental violation
2014
EPA
Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, LLC - (*) $728,000
environmental violation
2014
EPA
consumer protection violation
2018
NY-AG
Pharmacia & Upjohn Company - $676,250
environmental violation
2005
EPA
Purepac Pharmaceutical Co. - $600,000
False Claims Act and related
2010
ID-AG
employment discrimination
2015
OFCCP
False Claims Act and related
2009
OH-AG
off-label or unapproved promotion of medical products
2013
MA-AG
environmental violation
2007
IL-ENV
Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, LLC - $190,000
environmental violation
2016
EPA
consumer protection violation
2022
CO-AG
workplace safety or health violation
2004
OSHA
consumer protection violation
2022
AZ-AG
PHARMACIA CORPORATION, et al. - $96,000
environmental violation
2009
IL-ENV
SEARLE LTD - $95,000
environmental violation
2002
EPA
consumer protection violation
2022
KS-AG
consumer protection violation
2022
KS-AG
Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Company, Inc. - $77,000
environmental violation
2010
EPA
Pfizer Pharmaceuticals LLC - $55,000
environmental violation
2005
EPA
environmental violation
2008
EPA
environmental violation
2006
CT-ENV
wage and hour violation
2005
WHD
Wyeth Ayerst Pharmaceuticals - $37,000
environmental violation
2004
EPA
consumer protection violation
2022
VT-AG
Pharmacia and Upjohn Company LLC - $34,170
environmental violation
2017
EPA
environmental violation
2010
CT-ENV
PHARMACIA & UPJOHN CARIBE - $27,168
environmental violation
2001
EPA
WYETH PHARMACEUTICALS COMPANY - OTC - $25,000
environmental violation
2000
EPA
Pfizer Pharmaceuticals - $24,650
environmental violation
2010
EPA
PFIZER INC / GROTON SITE - $22,500
environmental violation
2005
EPA
Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Ltd. - $20,025
environmental violation
2004
EPA
railroad safety violation
2002
FRA
workplace safety or health violation
2012
OSHA
environmental violation
2002
NJ-ENV
workplace safety or health violation
2001
OSHA
workplace safety or health violation
2009
OSHA
workplace safety or health violation
2006
OSHA
Pfizer Inc. - $6,720
environmental violation
2012
CA-DPR
PHARMACIA & UPJOHN COMPANY, LLC. - $5,000
environmental violation
2004
EPA
Big Pharma’s Big Fines
by Lena Groeger, ProPublica
Feb. 24, 2014
In the last few years pharmaceutical companies have agreed to pay over $13 billion to resolve U.S. Department of Justice allegations of fraudulent marketing practices, including the promotion of medicines for uses that were not approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Here are summaries of some recent large settlements.
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 antipsychotic Geodon, an antibiotic Zyvox, and the antiepileptic drug Lyrica.
See Pfizer in Dollars For Docs
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.
GlaxoSmithKline
JULY 2012
GlaxoSmithKline 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.
See GlaxoSmithKline in
Dollars For Docs
Sanofi-Aventis
DEC 2012
Sanofi-Aventis agreed to pay $109 million to resolve allegations that the company gave doctors free units of Hyalgan (an injection to relieve knee pain) to encourage those doctors to buy their product. Sanofi lowered the effective price by promising these free samples to doctors, but at the same time got inflated prices from government programs by submitting false price reports, alleged the United States. Medicare and other government health care programs "paid millions of dollars in kickback-tainted claims for Hyalgan," according to the DOJ announcement.
Johnson & Johnson
NOV 2013
Johnson & Johnson agreed to pay a $2.2 billion fine to resolve criminal and civil allegations relating to the prescription drugs Risperdal, Invega and Natrecor. The government alleged that J&J promoted these drugs for uses not approved as safe and effective by the FDA, targeted elderly dementia patients in nursing homes, and paid kickbacks to physicians and to the nation’s largest long-term care pharmacy provider, Omnicare Inc. As part of the agreement, Johnson & Johnson admitted that it promoted Risperdal for treatment of psychotic symptoms in non-schizophrenic patients, although the drug was approved only to treat schizophrenia.
$1.42B$2.3B$520M$950M$1.5B$3B$95M$109M$762M$2.2B$193M
Eli Lilly
JAN 2009
Eli Lilly was fined $1.42 billion to resolve a government investigation into the off-label promotion of the antipsychotic 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.”
See Eli Lilly in
Dollars For Docs
AstraZeneca
APRIL 2010
AstraZeneca was fined $520 million to resolve allegations that it illegally promoted the antipsychotic 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.
See AstraZeneca in
Dollars For Docs
Abbott
MAY 2012
Abbott was fined $1.5 billion in connection to the illegal promotion of the antipsychotic 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.
See Abbott in
Dollars For Docs
Boehringer Ingelheim
OCT 2012
Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc agreed to pay $95 million to resolve allegations that the company promoted several drugs for non- medically accepted uses. These drugs included the stroke-prevention drug Aggrenox, the lung disease drugs Atrovent and Combivent, and Micardis, a drug to treat high blood pressure. The FDA alleged that Boehringer improperly marketed the drugs and "caused false claims to be submitted to government health care programs."
Amgen
DEC 2012
Amgen agreed to pay a $762 million fine to resolve criminal and civil charges that the company illegally introduced and promoted several drugs including Aranesp, a drug to treat anemia. Amgen pleaded guilty to illegally selling Aranesp to be used at doses that the FDA had explicitly rejected, and for an off-label treatment that had never been FDA-approved.
Endo
FEB 2014
Endo Health Solutions Inc. and its subsidiary Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc. agreed to pay $192.7 million to resolve criminal and civil liability arising from Endo’s marketing of the prescription drug Lidoderm. As part of the agreement, Endo admitted that it intended that Lidoderm be used for unapproved indications and that it promoted Lidoderm to healthcare providers this way.
Source: The Department of Justice.
https://projects.propublica.org/graphics/bigpharma
After you read about these biggest fines in Big Pharma's history, you may just find yourself ready to kick the capsules to the curb and dive into natural healing alternatives to pharamceuticals.
1. GlaxoSmithKline (2012): Illegal promotion of drugs (see above). The fine: $3 billion (largest fraud fine ever).
2. Pfizer (2009): Off-label promotion of COX-2 drugs including Bextra, Geodon, Lyrica and Zyvox, with "the intent to defraud or mislead" cost the pharma giant a loss of 90 percent of its 2008 income. The fine: $2.3 billion (then the largest fine of its kind).
3. Eli Lilly (2009): The maker of Zyprexa has had several court appearances over the anti-psychotic drug, which Lilly attempted to bait elderly populations suffering from dementia to give a whirl. The sales team was directed to disregard the law. Several lawsuits in various states resulted. The fines: $1.4 billion, $25 million, and $22.5 million (reduced from $2 billion for violating use of a product label approved by the FDA).
4. Abbott (2012): Abbott had no science to back up its target of the drug Depakote—an anticonvulsant—for use in treating elderly populations suffering from aggression and agitation related to dementia. But that did not stop the company from sending its sales reps into nursing homes. The company was also fined for promoting it as a treatment for schizophrenia although no scientific evidence existed to support that claim. The fine: $1.5 billion.
5. Merck (2011): The painkiller Vioxx was eventually pulled from the market in 2004 for its connection with an increased risk of heart attacks. But before then, Merck illegally promoted it as a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis despite any official approval. The company also reportedly made misleading statements about Vioxx's effect on heart health. The fine: $950 million.
6. Allergan (2010): Botox—the cosmetic toxin injected into the face to smooth out wrinkles and plump up lips—was misbranded by Allergan as a treatment for pain, headaches and cerebral palsy. The ruling also found that the company paid doctors $1,500 to attend presentations on the drug's other uses in order to help the company push out its product. The fine: $600 million.
7. AstraZeneca(2010): After misleading doctors and patients over the safety of its antipsychotic drug, Seroquel, which included known risks of gaining weight and developing diabetes. The company continued to deny any wrongdoing. The fine: $520 million.
8. Novartis(2010): Between 2000 and 2001, Novartis used misbranded promotion of the drug Trileptal for treatment of neuropathic pain and bipolar disorder despite no approval for treating those conditions. Other Novartis drugs were also misbranded, including Diovan, Exforge, Tekturna, Zelnorm and Sandostatin. The fine: $422.5 million.
9. GlaxoSmithKline(2009): Between 1997 and 2004, the company was investigated for off-label promotion of Wellbutrin SR, an anti-depressant that had been illegally prescribed for cases of bipolar disorder as a result of the company's marketing efforts. The fine: $400 million.
https://www.organicauthority.com/health/9-biggest-big-pharma-fines-ever
