Pfizer Loses 2.3 Billion Dollars In Law Suits

09/04/2009

There is a growing awareness of how big the prescription drug misuse epidemic has become. So much so that it is hard to watch the news without weekly stories of prescription drug homicide like Michael Jackson and other celebrities or the thousands who die from over prescribing of pharmaceutical drugs each year. As a major victory in the continuous battle against these prescription drug atrocities, Pfizer, under the strain of prosecution from the U.S. Attorney's office, the FBI and others, agreed Wednesday to pay 2.3 billion dollars in settlement due to false advertising and basically bribing doctors.

Authorities said Pfizer routinely invited doctors to "consultant meetings" at resort locations, paying their expenses and providing perks. "They were entertained with golf, massages, and other activities," said Mike Loucks, the U.S. attorney in Massachusetts. Mr. Loucks further explained that even while Pfizer was negotiating and trying to handle past misconduct, they were continuing to violate the very same laws with other drugs they are currently promoting.

This is not new news to many in the rehabilitative industry who have dealt with the fall out of the sales promoted in the lavish "consultant meetings" Mr. Loucks speaks about. The prescription drug addiction epidemic is spinning out of control and the sales of these drugs to people who don't need them just keeps skyrocketing up and creating masses of addicts in its wake.

According to Wikipedia, there are at present approximately 100,000 pharmaceutical sales reps in the United States and they visit approximately 830,000 pharmaceutical prescribers. A pharmaceutical representative will often try to see a given physician every few weeks. These sales representatives have very exact targets to meet with regards to sales volume for the 100 to 200 doctors they target every couple of weeks. This sales force has one intended purpose and that is to get doctors to prescribe more drugs to their patients more often.

Obviously the medical doctors who are trying to help their patients handle their current physical malady seek their information about the latest treatment in the most up-to-date places they can. Unfortunately, the sales reps for Big Pharma offer themselves as those up-to-date professionals. They are handy with "research" and promotional pamphlets the doctor can place in their offices as well as supplying websites packed with data on effectiveness and drug applications. Of course, many of these resources are bought and paid for by the pharmaceutical company selling the product being featured.

For help with overcoming addiction go to:

www.drugaddictiontreatment.ca

« back to index