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The Bigger They Are, Less Prison Time They Serve
By Attorney Jonathan Emord
Author of "The Rise of Tyranny" and
"Global Censorship of Health Information" and
"Restore The Republic"
July 9, 2012
NewsWithViews.com
What lesson can we learn from the $3 billion settlement paid by GlaxoSmithKline to the U.S. treasury? The lesson drug makers acquire from the settlement may surprise you. If you are like GSK and earn about $28 billion annually, you must realize that you can get away with promoting drugs for unapproved uses, including promoting unapproved uses for the antidepressants Paxil and Wellbutrin, and with concealing for seven years from the FDA evidence that the Type 2 diabetes drug Avandia substantially increases the risk of heart toxicity without ever suffering a serious loss of any kind. In both instances, the public was at an unacceptably high risk created by the willful action of GSK executives. In neither instance will a single GSK executive go to jail.
Indeed, the federal government maintains a wicked double standard. Were GSK a dietary supplement company or even a small drug company it would have endured a far more treacherous course, likely resulting in criminal indictments, vigorous prosecutions, prison terms, and the destruction of product lines and markets. For GSK, however, the government politely negotiated over several years a payment to the U.S. Treasury–a payment that would cover all manner of sins, criminal and civil, and a payment that is literally a drop in the proverbial bucket for this market leviathan.
Department of Justice prosecutors represented that GSK promoted its antidepressant drug Paxil to those under the age of 18 despite the fact that the drug is approved only for adults. FDA’s medical reviewer Dr. Andrew Mosholder many years ago found persuasive evidence that use of the drug in children increased the risk of suicide. The government also alleged that GSK promoted its antidepressant drug Wellbutrin for unapproved uses, such as for weight loss and sexual dysfunction. Prosecutors explained that GSK’s inducements for physician prescription of these drugs were misleading and lavish, involving distribution of a deceptive medical journal article and supplying doctors with illegal kickbacks for prescribing the drugs, including free meals and spa treatments. The misconduct allegedly commenced in the 1990s and continued through 2007.
GSK was not charged with any felonies but, instead, pled guilty to three misdemeanors, one for each drug. GSK’s $3 billion ($1 billion in criminal fines and $2 billion in civil fines) is the largest settlement payment made to the federal government by a drug maker to date (the next highest was paid by Pfizer at $2.3 billion). The pattern has been set for large pay-outs in lieu of jail time for the giant pharmaceutical concerns.
