The nonprofit consumer group Public Citizen has conducted an analysis that indicates that the pharmaceutical industry has passed the defense industry as the biggest defrauders of the American federal government. They looked all the way back to 1991, writing that “the total size, varied nature, and potential impact of these illegal and potentially dangerous activities have not been previously analyzed.” Their findings indicate that, not only is pharma fraud dominant, it’s also skyrocketing. Two of the most salient bullet points:
- Of the 165 settlements comprising $19.8 billion in penalties during this 20-year interval, 73 percent of the settlements (121) and 75 percent of the penalties ($14.8 billion) have occurred in just the past five years (2006-2010).
- Four companies (GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer, Eli Lilly, and Schering-Plough) accounted for more than half (53 percent or $10.5 billion) of all financial penalties imposed over the past two decades. These leading violators were among the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies.
We learned about the study from Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter John Fauber, who also blogged about Public Citizen’s findings.
