Current Events > Abolish big pharma - at least 85% of firms studied commited illegal activities

(+) Yeah! (+)

tl;dr:

Some pharmaceutical companies have received criticism for engaging in illegal activities, such as providing kickbacks and bribes, knowingly shipping adulterated or contaminated drugs to pharmacies, and marketing drugs for unapproved uses. This study examined financial penalties for illegal activities among large pharmaceutical firms in relation to annual revenues.

Original OP:

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-11/uonc-fpi111720.php

Among 26 [pharmaceutical] firms in our sample, 22 (85%) had financial penalties for illegal activities.

[...]

...the number of penalties for these firms varied between 1 (Allergan) and 27 (GlaxoSmithKline).

[...]

All but 1 firm (Perrigo) engaged in illegal activities associated with penalties for 4 or more years. An additional 4 firms received no financial penalties for illegal activities during this period. The most common types of illegal activity involving penalties (Table 2) were pricing violations, off-label marketing, and kickbacks.

[...]

Four firms were not found to have penalties for illegal activities during the sample period. This may indicate an ability for illegal activity to be undetected...

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Were those that paid the most fines the most successful overall? If so, they should probably consider a different penalty because they clearly don't care anyway.

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What illegal shit did they do exactly? Is it cool illegal shit like making battle androids?

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From Reddit:

Merck accused of stonewalling in mumps vaccine antitrust lawsuit https://www.reuters.com/article/health-vaccine-idUSL1N0YQ0W820150604

How authorities say drugmaker paid off doctors, lied to insurance companies to push potentially lethal fentanyl-based drug https://abcnews.go.com/Business/authorities-drugmaker-paid-off-doctors-lied-insurance-companies/story?id=61488372

Pfizer to pay $2.3 billion, agrees to criminal plea https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pfizer-settlement-sb-idUSTRE5813XB20090903

African babies that got vaccines at 3-5 months old had a 500% increase in mortality.
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/ebiom/article/PIIS2352-3964(17)30046-4/fulltext

In the Army I was expected to protect people at all costs, Kopchinski said in a statement. At Pfizer I was expected to increase profits at all costs, even when sales meant endangering lives. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pfizer-whistleblower-idUSN021592920090903

Teva settles multibillion-dollar drug kickback case ahead of trial https://www.reuters.com/article/health-teva/teva-settles-multibillion-dollar-drug-kickback-case-ahead-of-trial-idUSL2N25B1NZ

Abbott to pay $1.6 billion for Depakote marketing https://www.reuters.com/article/us-abbott-settlement-idUSBRE8460UK20120507

Eli Lilly to pay $1.42 bln to resolve Zyprexa probes https://www.reuters.com/article/elililly-idUSBNG34185720090115

Cancer drug probe nets $875 million settlement https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2001-10-04-0110040343-story.html

Court approves Amgen's $762 million payment in drug case https://www.reuters.com/article/us-amgen-plea-marketing-idUSBRE8BI1BT20121219

Glaxo to pay $750 million in adulterated drugs case https://www.reuters.com/article/us-glaxosmithkline-settlement/glaxo-to-pay-750-million-in-adulterated-drugs-case-idUSTRE69P4GH20101027

Allergan signs $750 million settlement with purchasers of Alzheimer's drug Namenda https://www.reuters.com/article/us-allergan-namenda-settlement/allergan-signs-750-million-settlement-with-purchasers-of-alzheimers-drug-namenda-idUSKBN1YS1C4

AIDS drug maker settles kickback charges for $704 million http://www.nbcnews.com/id/9728522/ns/business-corporate_scandals/t/aids-drug-maker-settles-kickback-charges/

Merck to pay $688 million to settle Enhance lawsuits https://www.reuters.com/article/us-merck-settlements-idUSBRE91D0R520130214

Drug Giant AstraZeneca to Pay $520 Million to Settle Fraud Case https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Health/astrazeneca-pay-520-million-illegally-marketing-seroquel-schizophrenia/story?id=10488647

California lawsuit accuses Bristol-Myers Squibb of fraud, kickbacks https://www.latimes.com/health/la-xpm-2011-mar-19-la-fi-drug-kickbacks-20110319-story.html

Pfizer in $486 million settlement of Celebrex, Bextra litigation https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pfizer-lawsuit-idUSKCN10D1D8

Ex-pharma CEO pleads guilty to kickbacks to doctors for opioid prescriptions https://www.bostonherald.com/2019/01/09/ex-pharma-ceo-pleads-guilty-to-kickbacks-to-doctors-for-opioid-prescriptions/

Merck Created Hit List to "Destroy," "Neutralize" or "Discredit" Dissenting Doctors https://www.cbsnews.com/news/merck-created-hit-list-to-destroy-neutralize-or-discredit-dissenting-doctors/

New Merck Allegations: A Fake Journal; Ghostwritten Studies; Vioxx Pop Songs; PR Execs Harass Reporters https://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-merck-allegations-a-fake-journal-ghostwritten-studies-vioxx-pop-songs-pr-execs-harass-reporters/

U.S. sues Novartis, alleging kickbacks to pharmacies https://www.reuters.com/article/us-novartis-fraud-lawsuit-idUSBRE93M1C920130424

Baxter admits flu product contained live bird flu virus https://www.ctvnews.ca/mobile/baxter-admits-flu-product-contained-live-bird-flu-virus-1.374503

Is Merck's Singulair Patent a Fraud? Suit Lays Out Timeline of Omissions https://www.cbsnews.com/news/is-mercks-singulair-patent-a-fraud-suit-lays-out-timeline-of-omissions/ Merck deliberately engaged in inequitable and fraudulent conduct in its statements and submissions to the PTO.

Pfizer settles foreign bribery case with U.S. government https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pfizer-settlement-idUSBRE8760WM20120807

Iraq war victims allege pharmaceutical companies' bribery led to U.S. troop deaths https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/10/17/iraq-war-victims-allege-pharmaceutical-companies-bribery-led-u-s-troop-deaths/771290001/

U.S. court upholds dismissal of $200 million Merck verdict against Gilead https://www.reuters.com/article/us-merck-gilead-ruling/us-court-upholds-dismissal-of-200-million-merck-verdict-against-gilead-idUSKBN1HW24U The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld a June 2016 ruling that the two Merck patents, which cover methods of treating Hepatitis C, were unenforceable because of a pattern of misconduct by the company, including lying under oath by one of its in-house lawyers.

Wyeth loses Prempro trial, to pay $1.5 million https://www.reuters.com/article/us-wyeth-prempro-verdict-idUSN2929344620070129 Wyeth protected their bottom dollar instead of protecting the patients, Zoe Littlepage, attorney for plaintiff Mary Daniel, said in a statement

Insight: Evidence grows for narcolepsy link to GSK swine flu shot https://www.reuters.com/article/us-narcolepsy-vaccine-pandemrix-idUSBRE90L07H20130122 Theres no doubt in my mind whatsoever that Pandemrix increased the occurrence of narcolepsy onset in children in some countries - and probably in most countries, says Mignot, a specialist in the sleep disorder

pogo_rabid posted...

What illegal shit did they do exactly? Is it cool illegal shit like making battle androids?

They get frogs high on adderall and make them solve math problems

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tl;dr:

Some pharmaceutical companies have received criticism for engaging in illegal activities, such as providing kickbacks and bribes, knowingly shipping adulterated or contaminated drugs to pharmacies, and marketing drugs for unapproved uses. This study examined financial penalties for illegal activities among large pharmaceutical firms in relation to annual revenues.

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Lost_All_Senses posted...

They get frogs high on adderall and make them solve math problems

lame, fine em for being uninteresting in their illegality.

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I worked for a CRO

So not directly for a pharma company

But we worked for some of the big dogs

Yeah. Pharma is evil as fuck

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Something as vital as medicine shouldn't be held in the hands of private companies.

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Like for example when Mylan was getting in hot water for exorbitantly raising the price of the epipen. We were working for them at the time.

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Felt like we worked for the devil himself

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MorbidFaithless posted...

Something as vital as medicine shouldn't be held in the hands of private companies.

I don't see the government as any more deserving of trust

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Big Pharma is daddy. They can do as they please.

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Solid Snake07 posted...

I don't see the government as any more deserving of trust

So we accept abject failure.

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Solid Snake07 posted...

MorbidFaithless posted...

Something as vital as medicine shouldn't be held in the hands of private companies.

I don't see the government as any more deserving of trust

The government doesn't at least try to maximise profits
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Bump
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KainWind posted...

Were those that paid the most fines the most successful overall? If so, they should probably consider a different penalty because they clearly don't care anyway.

Prison time for those responsible, every shareholder(individual, company, fund etc.) with more 1% or more in shares(subsidiaries or similar entities are grouped with their parent group) is also fined up to a maximum of the value of share at time of purchase, current value or the share of the companies revenue equivalent to their share of the stock owned during the period (s)in which the offenses were committed whichever is greater and the ones responsible must be fired.

Also the fines on those responsible are equal(or greater) to however much they earned in their time at the company in addition to any existing fees and new minimum fees based on the particular offenses.

Finally any related medical patents, or products become public domain(albeit subject to reasonable safety regulations and such if needed)

So if you commit significant or related violations laws related to insulin for example boom all patents, trademarks etc, related to your insulin products immediately become public domain, your CEO is fired, fined to oblivion and rots in prison for several years(or life) the big shareholders are fined, and the company loses valuable IP.

Or something along these lines that punishes the company, the heads of the company and the major beneficiaries.


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pikachupwnage posted...

Prison time for those responsible, every shareholder(individual, company, fund etc.) with more 1% or more in shares(subsidiaries or similar entities are grouped with their parent group) is also fined up to a maximum of the value of share at time of purchase, current value or the share of the companies revenue equivalent to their share of the stock owned during the period (s)in which the offenses were committed whichever is greater and the ones responsible must be fired.

Also the fines on those responsible are equal(or greater) to however much they earned in their time at the company in addition to any existing fees and new minimum fees based on the particular offenses.

Finally any related medical patents, or products become public domain(albeit subject to reasonable safety regulations and such if needed)

So if you commit significant or related violations laws related to insulin for example boom all patents, trademarks etc, related to your insulin products immediately become public domain, your CEO is fired, fined to oblivion and rots in prison for several years(or life) the big shareholders are fined, and the company loses valuable IP.

Or something along these lines that punishes the company, the heads of the company and the major beneficiaries.

Any politician that introduced that legislation would be silenced. One way or another.

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But I agree completely

Fucking evil bastards

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https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/the-code-im-still-ashamed-of-e4c021dff55e/

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I don't think all these doctors are bad. There are a ton of pain modalities that may work in these post-trauma patients like the guy in the story that couldn't sleep after spinal cord injuries and percocet didn't touch his pain. But I do understand that if they try all those modalities and have failed that they may want to try the spray. Not saying I would've done the same but some of these patients are genuinely constantly in pain and just because its non-cancer doesn't mean its not going to be as bad. We do off-label prescriptions all the time. The only problem here is that its not standard of care or a commonly accepted practice.

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all big businesses are criminals

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Tyranthraxus posted...

https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/the-code-im-still-ashamed-of-e4c021dff55e/

What drug was it?

Tryhaptaward posted...

What drug was it?

I don't know. It was likely not mentioned deliberately to avoid identifying the incident.

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Well, they now have to play by Amazon's rule, let's see how this turns out.

Surely a sprinkle of moderate regulations will put a stop to this.

NOT TOO MUCH

take it easy

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Pharma is the most evil industry on the planet

Bar none

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teepan95 posted...

The government doesn't at least try to maximise profits

You're saying that like it's inherently a good thing. A profit motive is an efficiency motive.

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Dreepapult posted...

Felt like we worked for the devil himself

The devil is the amalagation of any and all forces that are in direct opposition of righteousness and nature itself. A pharmacy is a practice of the devil just by going off its etymological roots, a pharmacy is a place of spells, poisons and potions that help with ritual sacrifice.

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KainWind posted...

Were those that paid the most fines the most successful overall? If so, they should probably consider a different penalty because they clearly don't care anyway.

Some companies just pay the fine and consider it a routine expense.

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If they're not making Tyrants what's even the fucking point of being big pharma?

Solid Snake07 posted...

You're saying that like it's inherently a good thing. A profit motive is an efficiency motive.

Needless to say, it isn't. A profit motive is, primarily, a corner cutting incentive.

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Solid Snake07 posted...

teepan95 posted...

The government doesn't at least try to maximise profits

You're saying that like it's inherently a good thing. A profit motive is an efficiency motive.

Unfortunately, efficiency without ethics is not inherently good
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Just give the guillotine to everyone responsible for absurd insulin prices and call it a day.

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