Quick look at Big Pharma’s U.S. rap sheet

Recent turbulence in China for drug makers follows big problems for members of the industry in the United States, where they’ve paid billions in criminal fines and civil penalties.

Here’s a quick rundown of their U.S. rap sheet:

Abbott
May 2012
Fined $1.5 billion for illegal promotion of the antipsychotic drug Depakote.

Amgen
December 2012
Paid $762 million fine to resolve criminal and civil charges for illegal promotion of Aranesp, a drug to treat anemia.

AstraZeneca
April 2010
Fined $520 million for illegal promotion of antipsychotic drug Seroquel.

Boehringer Ingelheim
October 2012
Paid $95 million for wrongful promotion of Aggrenox, Atrovent, Combivent, and Micardis.

Eli Lilly
Jan 2009
Fined $1.42 billion for off-label promotion of the antipsychotic Zyprexa. In 2012, Eli Lilly paid $29 million to settle FCPA charges with the SEC.

GlaxoSmithKline
July 2012
Fined $3 billion for illegal promotion of drugs and failure to report safety data. Pleaded guilty to misbranding the drug Paxil and failing to disclose safety information about the diabetes drug Avandia to the FDA. Former GSK manager-turned-whistleblower Cheryl Eckard awarded $96 million for the GSK payout.

Merck
November 2011
Fined $950 million for illegal promotion of the painkiller Vioxx.

Pfizer
September 2009
Fined $2.3 billion after pleading guilty to misbranding the painkiller Bextra with “the intent to defraud or mislead.” In 2012, Pfizer paid $60 million to the DOJ and SEC to resolve FCPA offenses.

Sanofi-Aventis
December 2012
Paid $109 million for giving doctors free samples and net-back deals while also inflating prices for government programs.

Source for non-FCPA data: ProPublica

_____________

Richard L. Cassin is the Publisher and Editor of the FCPA Blog. He can be contacted here.