Moby
09-02-2009, 06:25 PM
That would be a lot of money to most companies.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/02/AR2009090201449.html?hpid=topnews
By Carrie Johnson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 2, 2009; 10:40 AM
Drug maker Pfizer and one of its subsidiaries have agreed to pay $2.3 billion for illegally promoting the anti-inflammatory drug Bextra and three other medicines.
The deal marks the largest health-care fraud settlement in Justice Department history, authorities said Wednesday.
Pfizer subsidiary Pharmacia and Upjohn pleaded guilty to a single felony charge of violating the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act and will pay $1.3 billion, the biggest criminal fine ever imposed in the United States, according to Justice Department officials.
Pfizer paid $1 billion more to resolve allegations that it marketed three other drugs -- Geodon, an anti-psychotic pill; Zyvox, an antibiotic; and Lyrica, an epilepsy medicine -- in ways that were not approved for coverage in government health plans.
The company also agreed to monitoring by the inspector general at the Department of Health and Human Services as part of the settlement.
Associate Attorney General Tom Perrelli said the agreement "shows one of the many ways in which federal government in partnership with state and local allies can help the American people at a time when budgets are tight and health-care costs are increasing."
The company pulled Bextra from the market in 2005 amid safety concerns.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/02/AR2009090201449.html?hpid=topnews
By Carrie Johnson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 2, 2009; 10:40 AM
Drug maker Pfizer and one of its subsidiaries have agreed to pay $2.3 billion for illegally promoting the anti-inflammatory drug Bextra and three other medicines.
The deal marks the largest health-care fraud settlement in Justice Department history, authorities said Wednesday.
Pfizer subsidiary Pharmacia and Upjohn pleaded guilty to a single felony charge of violating the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act and will pay $1.3 billion, the biggest criminal fine ever imposed in the United States, according to Justice Department officials.
Pfizer paid $1 billion more to resolve allegations that it marketed three other drugs -- Geodon, an anti-psychotic pill; Zyvox, an antibiotic; and Lyrica, an epilepsy medicine -- in ways that were not approved for coverage in government health plans.
The company also agreed to monitoring by the inspector general at the Department of Health and Human Services as part of the settlement.
Associate Attorney General Tom Perrelli said the agreement "shows one of the many ways in which federal government in partnership with state and local allies can help the American people at a time when budgets are tight and health-care costs are increasing."
The company pulled Bextra from the market in 2005 amid safety concerns.