FINES TO
PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES DOUBLE IN 2012
Pharmaceutical companies make millions to billions of
dollars in profits off of their popular drugs.
So what’s the risk in pushing out a product before it’s ready for public
consumption? According to the pharmaceutical
industry watchdog, Public Citizen, pharmaceutical companies have already paid
approximately $6.6 billion in fines this year for defrauding U.S. health
programs. But to pharmaceutical companies, this is par for the course. Although these fines represent nearly double
the amount paid in 2011, this disturbing trend shows how little the
pharmaceutical companies can spend out of wallet busting profits in order to
clean up their messes.
Public Citizen researcher Sammy Almashat comments that this
is expected by investors and pharmaceutical makers themselves. “The consensus seems to be that this is a
business model, and unless the federal government moves first to increase these
penalties, that’s likely to remain the case.”
WHY THE FINES
Pharmaceutical drug makers have come under fire for multiple
reasons, including:
·
Hiding serious side effects and complications
·
Marketing the drug for off label uses
·
Overcharging government medical programs
In response, the government is cracking down on prescription
drug makers and fining them for these flagrant abuses.
WILL THIS MAKE YOU
SAFER
Ideally, these fines will help protect you from the hasty
push to market associated with some of these drugs like Avandia and Actos or
from the off label use like Medtronic Infuse.
In practice, pharmaceutical companies may accept the fines and lawsuits
for risking your health as part of the cost of doing business.
If you’ve been injured by a bad drug, you should call an
attorney to discuss your rights. Take steps to protect yourself from the greed
of pharmaceutical companies.