We're Number Two!

[Anonymous]

http://www.bnet.com/blog/drug-busin...the-worst-behaved-drug-companies-of-2010/7195

Rogues Gallery: DOJ Lists the Worst-Behaved Drug Companies of 2010

Congratulations, Allergan (AGN): The company paid the biggest settlement to the Department of Justice’s healthcare fraud and abuse program in 2010, $600 million for the unapproved, “off-label” promotion of Botox for headaches. 2010 was a banner year for bad behavior in the drug business, according to the DOJ. There were:

* $2.5 billion in health care fraud judgments and settlements.
* 1,116 new criminal health care fraud investigations.
* 2,095 potential defendants in those cases.
* 1,787 ongoing criminal health care fraud investigations pending.
* 2,977 potential defendants in those cases.
* 488 cases with criminal charges filed.
* 931 actual defendants in those cases.
* 726 defendants convicted of health care fraud-related crimes

The statistic that managers ought to pay most attention to is the one describing them. While I’ve criticized the DOJ in the past for talking a lot about prosecuting individual executives while not actually doing so, the DOJ reports that The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Inspector General banned 3,340 individuals and entities from doing business with the federal government.

Here are the 16 worst-behaved drug and medical device companies in 2010, ranked by the size of the settlements or awards extracted by the DOJ:

1. Allergan, $600 million, mismarketing of Botox
2. AstraZeneca, $520 million, mismarketing of Seroquel
3. Novartis, $422.5 million, mismarketing of Trileptal and others
4. Forest Labs, $313 million, mismarketing of Lovothroid and Celexa
5. Mylan/UDL Labs/AZ and Johnson & Johnson, $124 million, underpaid rebates to Medicaid
6. Teva, $100 million, inflated prices
7. J&J, $81 million, mismarketing of Topamax
8. Novartis, $72.5 million, mismarketing of TOBI for cystic fibrosis
9. Alpharma, $42.5 million, mismarketing of Kadian
10. KV Pharmaceutical, $27.5 million, oversized pills
11. Biovail, $24.7 million, mismarketing of Cardizem
12. Boston Scientific, $22 million, kickbacks on defibrillators
13. Cardinal Health and Bindley Western, $5.5 million, overcharging the DOD
14. Spectranetics Corporation, $4.9 million, marketing unapproved medical devices
15. Atricure, $3.7 million, mismarketing surgical devices
16. Sandoz, $3.5 million, fraudulent reimbursement for nitroglycerin tablets

 

[Anonymous]

Is it any wonder that our costs for healthcare are out of control? There is a systemic problem! The enormous markups are not enough to satisfy, this isn't one company's problem, it is a natural phenomenon. The system does not and will not work; more regulations or penalties will not cure the ailments.

Pharma must be regulated like electric utilities are regulated. Else, the government must remove all of her protections and allow free market capitalism to work. These companies are versions of Enron, corrupt to the core, yet they thrive in a government protected environment. The phony reason for setting things up this way is to spark innovation; the gigantic pink elephant in the room is there has been no innovation in over a decade.

Insanity has defined as trying the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome. We need a big time change if there is ever to be innovation in pharmaceuticals and affordable medical treatments.

 

[Anonymous]

My 2011 scorecard goal is to reach number one.

 

[Anonymous]

GSK will take the number one spot in 2011....they agreed to a RECORD $3.5 Billion Dollar Fine. They also had to send out Dear Doctor letter and tell them they are a "naughty" company. Dirt Bags!!

 

[Anonymous]

Come on team, we can make it to the #1 spot!! What have we got to lose, our jobs??

 

[Anonymous]

http://www.bnet.com/blog/drug-busin...the-worst-behaved-drug-companies-of-2010/7195

Rogues Gallery: DOJ Lists the Worst-Behaved Drug Companies of 2010

Here are the 16 worst-behaved drug and medical device companies in 2010, ranked by the size of the settlements or awards extracted by the DOJ:

1. Allergan, $600 million, mismarketing of Botox
2. AstraZeneca, $520 million, mismarketing of Seroquel
3. Novartis, $422.5 million, mismarketing of Trileptal and others
4. Forest Labs, $313 million, mismarketing of Lovothroid and Celexa
5. Mylan/UDL Labs/AZ and Johnson & Johnson, $124 million, underpaid rebates to Medicaid
6. Teva, $100 million, inflated prices
7. J&J, $81 million, mismarketing of Topamax
8. Novartis, $72.5 million, mismarketing of TOBI for cystic fibrosis
9. Alpharma, $42.5 million, mismarketing of Kadian
10. KV Pharmaceutical, $27.5 million, oversized pills
11. Biovail, $24.7 million, mismarketing of Cardizem
12. Boston Scientific, $22 million, kickbacks on defibrillators
13. Cardinal Health and Bindley Western, $5.5 million, overcharging the DOD
14. Spectranetics Corporation, $4.9 million, marketing unapproved medical devices
15. Atricure, $3.7 million, mismarketing surgical devices
16. Sandoz, $3.5 million, fraudulent reimbursement for nitroglycerin tablets

Remember these are just the biggest cases that were closed up in 2010 -- one year -- this is the industry's equivalent to a criminal's wrap sheet. You think the average criminal's wrap sheet includes every caper he's pulled? There are PLENTY more, make no mistake. When they catch a serial murderer everyone is left to wonder how many he killed that you don't even know about.

The pharma industry is corrupt and unable to win the right way. The list above is what the industry produces. NOT new and improved products to help people live longer, higher quality lives. If you disagree, list the top 16 new products that came out in 2010.

Corporate Integrity Agreements will not stop this rip off.

 

[Anonymous]

The pharma industry is corrupt and unable to win the right way. The list above is what the industry produces. NOT new and improved products to help people live longer, higher quality lives.

The act of commerce and trade is inherently opportunistic. You act so deeply offended by pharma and I know you are here everyday declaring the same rhetoric because I recognize your same old, tired talking points but you gotta move on with your life...I had to. I dedicated over 15 years of my life to big pharma and AZ has done me terribly wrong over the last 5 years, but I'm smart enough to know that in life, there are no guarantees and at the end of the day, I'm still blessed to be in America. Without business, America is dead. Your computer shuts down, cars stop working and this Great Experiment starts looking like Cuba; complete, yet mediocre social benefit for all. You preach the criminality of pharma, yet one can argue that even a pious non-profit like the United Way offers limited social benefit since about 60 cents of every dollar donated goes to pay executive salaries. Life isn't fair and nobody promised you that it would be. If you think pharma is the most evil, unfair thing out there, maybe you should talk to someone from Haiti or Sudan or Egypt.

As Chris Rock put it: "All you did was come out of a pussy on American soil". You talk like you've been so wronged but at the same time you live better than 98% of the world. That's absolutely not fair....but I'll take it. Will you? You're complaining about our medicine when over 50% of the world doesn't even know what an aspirin looks like. Where's your outrage for broken governments that are allowing people to die rather than receive FREE medicines from the drug companies? Where's your outrage for Chinese and Indian drug counterfeiters sending metric tons of inactive pills into the marketplace everywhere? Nah, you and lawyers who think like you are just trying to get paid and you see pharma as the next wallet you want to steal. You act high and mighty but you're as greedy as anyone else. Keep trolling cafepharma for your big break you capitalist pig

 

[Anonymous]

The act of commerce and trade is inherently opportunistic. You act so deeply offended by pharma and I know you are here everyday declaring the same rhetoric because I recognize your same old, tired talking points but you gotta move on with your life...I had to. I dedicated over 15 years of my life to big pharma and AZ has done me terribly wrong over the last 5 years, but I'm smart enough to know that in life, there are no guarantees and at the end of the day, I'm still blessed to be in America. Without business, America is dead. Your computer shuts down, cars stop working and this Great Experiment starts looking like Cuba; complete, yet mediocre social benefit for all. You preach the criminality of pharma, yet one can argue that even a pious non-profit like the United Way offers limited social benefit since about 60 cents of every dollar donated goes to pay executive salaries. Life isn't fair and nobody promised you that it would be. If you think pharma is the most evil, unfair thing out there, maybe you should talk to someone from Haiti or Sudan or Egypt.

As Chris Rock put it: "All you did was come out of a pussy on American soil". You talk like you've been so wronged but at the same time you live better than 98% of the world. That's absolutely not fair....but I'll take it. Will you? You're complaining about our medicine when over 50% of the world doesn't even know what an aspirin looks like. Where's your outrage for broken governments that are allowing people to die rather than receive FREE medicines from the drug companies? Where's your outrage for Chinese and Indian drug counterfeiters sending metric tons of inactive pills into the marketplace everywhere? Nah, you and lawyers who think like you are just trying to get paid and you see pharma as the next wallet you want to steal. You act high and mighty but you're as greedy as anyone else. Keep trolling cafepharma for your big break you capitalist pig

Hey Fuck You!

Get off of me personally, OK? I'm here talking about a serious social issue and I'll not go away. The only retorts I get, and I do post a lot, are personal. You argue that the United Way is corrupt so AZ isn't so bad after all, you argue that I've got it good so I should stop bitching. Both arguments are cop outs.

I know a lot about this industry from the inside and out and I'm going to spread the word every way I know and can find out how to. The internet is all about information, and it is like a megaphone. Google "corruption at AZ" and likely one of the top hits will be a CP post, so this is a good place to spend some time, from my POV. Congress subpoenaed the CP records. I'm not writing about how I personally was wronged -- and never have here -- I'm writing about how big pharma has most of the people believing the lies they promulgate, which are mainly:

1)Pharma innovates and finds new medicines that improve and extend lives
1.a) This justifies higher prices for their products here in the USA
2) Pharma operates under free market competition



All of the above are lies. The People of the United States need to know.


By the way, you should count your blessings too. Most of the people in the world live on something like 5 bucks a day. If you're making 10, you should be happy, by your logic, so you ought to be living like a relative king! (If all you care about is money, that is.)

Also one of the biggest blessings in America is freedom of speech and dissent. You should celebrate the fact that I exercise my freedoms. I wish pharma had to operate in the environment that made America an economic powerhouse and land of opportunity, and that is a "free market."

 

[Anonymous]

Hey Fuck You!
Congress subpoenaed the CP records. I'm not writing about how I personally was wronged -- and never have here -- I'm writing about how big pharma has most of the people believing the lies they promulgate, which are mainly:

1)Pharma innovates and finds new medicines that improve and extend lives
1.a) This justifies higher prices for their products here in the USA
2) Pharma operates under free market competition

I didn't tell you to shut up. Feel free to continue posting your novel here every day. I was just offering some relativity because your arguments rarely have balance. Pharma is very, very far from perfect. I personally have a huge grudge against AZ for how they've treated me and other excellent employees. However, peanut farmers, nurses, lawyers, and the very Congress that you cited above all have their scandals...because we are all HUMAN. You can stew in anger for the rest of your days and try to tear down what others have built OR you can personally take it upon yourself to create a different, better way to deliver innovative medicine/healthcare to people. I guarantee that no matter which path you choose, there will be leeches, lawyers and politicians scraping their bully profits from your motives and emotions. In my opinion, the real danger are people who profit from keeping our world unstable and angry (lawyers, politicians). They provide nothing of substance and take everything from all of us. So what have you created to:

1. make medicine available to more people at a better price?
2. provide better outcomes for patients?
3. provide jobs so that a major portion of your profits are redistributed back into the economy?

 

[Anonymous]

I didn't tell you to shut up. Feel free to continue posting your novel here every day. I was just offering some relativity because your arguments rarely have balance. Pharma is very, very far from perfect. I personally have a huge grudge against AZ for how they've treated me and other excellent employees. However, peanut farmers, nurses, lawyers, and the very Congress that you cited above all have their scandals...because we are all HUMAN. You can stew in anger for the rest of your days and try to tear down what others have built OR you can personally take it upon yourself to create a different, better way to deliver innovative medicine/healthcare to people. I guarantee that no matter which path you choose, there will be leeches, lawyers and politicians scraping their bully profits from your motives and emotions. In my opinion, the real danger are people who profit from keeping our world unstable and angry (lawyers, politicians). They provide nothing of substance and take everything from all of us. So what have you created to:

1. make medicine available to more people at a better price?
2. provide better outcomes for patients?
3. provide jobs so that a major portion of your profits are redistributed back into the economy?

The essence of your message to me was "shut up." Glad you're at least hedging on that.

As to "what have I done," the implication is again, "shut up, at least we're trying and doing something."


The cartels in Mexico do a lot for the communities they operate in. They also cut policeman's heads off. I don't think the cartels should stay in operation, because they're evil corrupt organizations of criminals.

Similar in that way to America's, and the foreign companies operating here, pharmaceutical executives. They've corrupted the system so far from the intentions behind the creation of the Rx industry (that only happened about 50 years ago) there is no similarity. And no discovery, either.