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50 Million Uninsured in the U.S. Equals 50,000+ Avoidable Deaths a Year, January 2012
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For Big Pharma, Crime Pays, November 2011

Having 50 Million Uninsured Americans Is Bad Enough, But…, October 2011
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Further Arguments for Eliminating the Private U.S. Health Insurance Industry, August 2011
Hope for Delaware Emerges After Disaster for Its Children, July 2011
Remove Dangerous Alzheimer’s Drug — Aricept 23 — from the Market Immediately, June 2011
Unreliable Alzheimer’s Diagnoses, May 2011
Patient Advocacy Groups and Drug Company Funding, April 2011
Atomic (Nuclear) Power, March 2011
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Governor Scott of Florida, January 2011
Pharmaceutical Industry Is Biggest Defrauder of the Federal Government under the False Claims Act, New Public Citizen Study Finds, December 2010
U.S. Troops: More Deaths Related to Prescription Drugs, October 2010
The Health Insurance Industry, September 2010
Don't Get Sick in July, August 2010
They Said What?!, July 2010
Crime in the Pharma Suites, June 2010
The Continuing Saga of Avandia: Paid Cheerleaders for the Drug, May 2010
FDA Cautious on Food Safety, Reckless on Drug Safety, April 2010
“Botox Injections Helpful for Depression?”, March 2010
Everybody In, Nobody Out (That Means Immigrants Too!), February 2010
Tamiflu? More Like Scamiflu!, January 2010
The Case of Neurontin: Skewed Research in the Service of Selling, December 2009
AHIP’s Actuarial Acrobatics, November 2009
Drug Company Inducements to Doctors: Not Par for the Course, October 2009
Ghostly Prescriptions, September 2009
Medical Publisher Offers Bribes for Writing Favorable Book Reviews, August 2009
Language Matters: Poor Communication Can Mean Poor Health Care, July 2009
A Coalition of the Scared, June 2009
Psychoprostitution, May 2009
High Deductibles for Limited Eligibles, April 2009
Ending the Insanity of Failed State Health Insurance Reforms, March 2009
“Morning After” Contraception: Too Difficult to Get, February 2009
Full Body Scams: Not Your Source for Peace of Mind, January 2009

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Read what Public Citizen has to say about the biggest blunders and outrageous offenses in the world of public health, published monthly in Health Letter.

For Big Pharma, Crime Pays

November 2011

Sidney M. Wolfe, M.D.

On Nov. 3, 2011, GlaxoSmith-Kline (GSK), the world’s fourth largest pharmaceutical company, announced that it had tentatively reached a $3 billion settlement — the largest ever — with the federal government to conclude an investigation into illegal activity going back at least seven years.

GSK allegedly promoted multiple drugs, including the dangerous diabetes drug rosiglitazone (Avandia), for uses for which they were not approved, going so far as to pay kickbacks to get doctors to prescribe the medications. The purported settlement breaks the previous $2.3 billion settlement record set in 2009 by Pfizer.

GSK has repeatedly been fined for unlawful conduct. A 2010 Public Citizen report (“Rapidly Increasing Criminal and Civil Monetary Penalties Against the Pharmaceutical Industry: 1991 to 2010,” at www.citizen.org/hrg1924) found that, over the past 20 years, GSK racked up $4.5 billion — more than any other company — in fines levied by the federal government and state governments for a plethora of illegal activities.

The pharmaceutical industry has paid more in penalties to the federal government as a result of these settlements than any other industry. The profits generated by such activities are massive, and when companies are caught, CEOs get off scot-free, while the penalties handed down barely put a dent in the drugmakers’ bottom lines.

The $3 billion settlement may seem like a sizeable sum, but consider that, according to The New York Times, GSK reaped profits of $5 billion on $43 billion worth of sales in just this past year alone. And by announcing the settlement in advance of its official conclusion, GSK put an end to years of investor uncertainty. The company’s stock rose 3 percent following the announcement, confirming yet again that for Big Pharma, at least, crime does indeed pay.

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