FINES TO PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES DOUBLE IN 2012


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.