A staggering lawsuit against Pfizer for illegal promotion of their drugs amounted to 2 billion, 300 million dollars. At first glance this would spell bankruptcy for most companies…not so for Pfizer.

Pfizer’s revenue for only one drug, Lipitor,  generates over 12 billion dollars per year. If you download my free report on cholesterol from this blog page you will see why Lipitor is so bad.

According to the Justice Department, the lawsuit involves 13 different drugs that were illegally promoted. (Note: Eric Holder, current attorney general, was excused from his involvement in the Justice Department’s lawsuit because he had previously defended Pfizer in private practice.)

Bextra, a cox-2 inhibitor pain killer for Pfizer, was previously pulled from the market because it was in a class of dangerous drugs promoted by various drug companies.  Vioxx, a cox-2 and Merck product, killed over 100,000 takers in only one year. (Cardiovascular accidents)

The government reports that Pfizer paid kickbacks for marketing many drugs. These included Aricept, Celebrex (a cox-2 inhibitor), Lipitor (cholesterol lowering), Norvasc, Viagra, Relpax, Zoloft, Zyrtec, and Zithromax.

The record lawsuit was not only for false advertising but also for the promotion to doctors who would prescribe their medications. Mike Loucks, U.S. Attorney in Massachusetts said this: “They (the doctors) were entertained with golf, massages, and other activities.” Pfizer paid for and promoted to doctors through meetings at resort locations.

Pfizer’s lawsuit was not an isolated violation.  Authorities say the U.S. drug industry has paid out more than 11 billion dollars in settlements for illegal promotions over the past 10 years.

In spite of the staggering amount of money paid in fines, it should be pointed out drug companies have over 600 lobbyists that influence legislation. They get favorable legal protection, who knows what it would be without this.   Add to that:  Drug companies typically spend 25% on marketing but only 7% on research.

The mark up on some drugs, according to researcher Dr. Gary Null, is sometimes over 4000% or more than the ingredient costs. Even their safety is questionable since some mind altering drugs are found to increase suicide rates by 20%.

The drug companies can well afford to pay fines, in my opinion…Denis Van Loan D.D.S. What do you think? You can scroll down and leave a comment.

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