Weston Lawyers: Pfizer’s Deep Pockets

Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer is in the news once again and it appears that they now have $47 million less with which to work! Recently, a court found that the company violated federal racketeering law by improperly promoting their epilepsy drug Neurontin. Allegations state that that Pfizer was promoting the drug for Migraine headaches, pain and Bipolar disorder. This is no surprise to us at westonlawyers.com. But, here is only one small problem-Neurontin was never approved by the FDA for such uses. While it is true that Physicians can prescribe drugs as they see fit, FDA regulations strictly prohibit pharmaceutical companies from marketing a drug other than for the use or uses for which it was originally intended.

This isn’t new territory for the monolithic drug manufacturer. Back in 2004, Pfizer paid a whopping $430 million dollars to both federal and state governments and pleaded guilty to illegally marketing this same drug. There is an interesting caveat to all of this. Pfizer wasn’t the originators of Neurontin. Rather, they obtained it in 2000 with their acquisition of Warner Lambert Corp. Here’s what is worse, this is mere “slap on the wrist” compared to the criminal charges and $2.3 billion in fines levied against them in 2009 for improper promotions of 13 of their other medicines!

There is more. Several weeks ago, Pfizer admitted to paying $35 million to some 4,500 doctors and researchers from July through December 2009 for a variety of services, including speaking fees, expert advice and work on clinical trials of its medicines!

How does Pfizer keep on going in the midst of so many fines? It is simple really. Their pockets are deeper than most could comprehend. Their ability to stay in business demonstrates the huge profit margins with which they work. While we aren’t against profits and it is important to realize that companies like these help contribute to skyrocketing Health care costs.

Our attitude remains the same. More laws need to be enacted and those that are on the books need to be enforced against big Pharma for the safety and well being of the public. Many of these companies spend untold millions on PR and Marketing campaigns to make them appear to be performing a “public service.” All we can say is “Don’t believe everything you hear.” Just because they say it doesn’t make it so. Public trust should be difficult to acquire and easy to lose.