Received a letter from Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) requesting its whistleblower policy
Saw the researcher who put Bextra, Celebrex and Lyrica on the map, Scott S. Reuben, MD, trotted off to prison for research fraud
Suspended trials of tanezumab, an osteoarthritis pain drug, because patients got worse not better, some needing joint replacements
Was sued by Blue Cross Blue Shield to recoup money it overpaid for Bextra and other drugs
Saw its appeal to end lawsuits by Nigerian families who accused it of illegal trials of the antibiotic Trovan in which 11 children died rejected by the Supreme Court
While Pfizer was under a 5-year Corporate Integrity Agreement (CIA)* with the U.S. Health and Human Services for withholding $20 million in Lipitor rebates owed to Medicaid in 2002, it was already marketing Neurontin for off-label indications which earned it a second CIA in 2004. Undaunted, Pfizer proceeded to market Lyrica, a drug similar to Neurontin, off-label while under its second CIA, earning it a third. (Does anyone think CIAs are a deterrent?)
Before its COVID-19 "good guy" makeover, Pfizer was linked to some of the most notoriously unsafe drugs that have come down the pipeline. It bought Warner-Lambert in 2000 knowing the company's marketing practices were under criminal investigation and its Rezulin (mentioned above) had been withdrawn. Then Pfizer bought the hormone maker Wyeth knowing it carried the baggage of Fen-Phen heart valve suits and cancer lawsuits related to Prempro, a hormone replacement drug.
Drug makers like Pfizer enjoyed a "huge pandemic windfall" from COVID-19 wrote the Wall Street Journal in February. Unfortunately, it may have spoiled them. An analyst for a capital management firm that WSJ quotes says some drug makers are now asking, "How do we turn this into an ongoing business?"
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