How much money is the $35 million criminal fine Pfizer was forced to pay this week for illegal marketing of Genotropin?? Last year Pfizer's profit was $11 billion. But that profit doesn't include all the additional profit Pfizer is hiding in off-shore tax havens.

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How much money is the $35 million criminal fine Pfizer was forced to pay this week for illegal marketing of Genotropin??

Last year Pfizer's profit was $11 billion.

But that profit doesn't include all the additional profit Pfizer is hiding in off-shore tax havens.

The New York Times in 2005 described a new tax break for corporations, part of the American Jobs Creation Act, signed into law by President Bush, which allowed companies a one-year window to return foreign profits to the United States at a 5.25 percent tax rate, compared with the standard 35 percent rate. The New York Times went on to state "Pfizer . . . will repatriate at least $28 billion under the act."

Obviously, the $11 billion profit is just a fraction of Pfizer's real profit, but let's use that number anyway.

$11 billion translates into nearly $35 million in profit EVERY DAY.

So the $35 million criminal fine was equivalent to one day's profit.

Let's put that in perspective: If you make $50,000 a year, that means you earn $137 every day. That is equivalent to a regular speeding ticket.

Did a speeding ticket ever stop you from speeding again?

Authors Bio:
Peter Rost M.D. Peter Rost, M.D., is a former Vice President of Pfizer. He is the author of "The Whistleblower, Confessions of a Healthcare Hitman" and "Killer Drug." He also writes the daily Pharma Law Blog and the Pharma Expert Witness Blog.