Pfizer Drug Company Settlement Touches Indiana
Medicaid Repayment Will Relieve Taxpayers
Sep 3, 2009
The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) exists to regulate how certain prescription drugs are used, and for what conditions they can be prescribed. When Pfizer decided to promote four prescription drugs, including a potent pain killer, as treatments for conditions other than what was approved, nine whistleblowers associated with the company decided to step forward and help the federal government initiate a civil and criminal lawsuit against the company. In the Northwest Indiana Times article titled "Indiana to Share in Pfizer Settlement", written by Dan Carden, Indiana will receive nearly $3.7 million as part of a $2.3 billion settlement.
What Pfizer did Wrong: Misbranding Prescription Drugs
According to Carden, Pfizer had participated in what is called misbranding, or promoting their drugs, including a painkiller called Bextra, a Cox-2 inhibitor, as treatments for medical conditions other than for what they were authorized. Bextra has since been linked to raising the risk for heart attack, stroke, and death.
To promote these prescription drugs in an illegal manner, Pfizer “invited doctors to meetings at resort locations, paying expenses and providing perks such as golf, massages and other activities”.
Whistleblowers at Pfizer: An Ethical Decision
Nine whistleblowers, who were labeled as insiders at Pfizer, stepped forward from Massachusetts, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania to help the federal government clinch the civil and criminal suit, receiving a lucrative financial award for their ethical decision. According to Carden, the nine whistleblowers will share in over $100 million dollars of the reward.
How the Settlement Affects Indiana Taxpayers
While Indiana did not have any direct linking to the Pfizer case, Medicaid, and ultimately taxpayers, have been paying for these illegally branded drugs for years. Indiana was included in the settlement because physicians in Indiana were part of the group that was targeted for the illegally promoted drugs. The $3.7 million settlement will be repaid to Indiana’s Medicaid Program.
The Medicaid Program in other targeted states will also receive a portion of $1 billion of the settlement, which has been set aside from the settlement for Medicare, Medicaid, and other health programs.
Due to the severe health problems caused by Bextra, Pfizer plead guilty in an agreement to one count of felony misbranding, which lead to the $1.2 billion criminal fine that ultimately became part of the record $2.3 billion dollar total. Numerous other drugs that had been misbranded by Pfizer lead to the civil damages. This is Pfizer’s fourth such civil and criminal settlement in the past 10 years.
 |
