Big Pharmaceutical Companies In Big Trouble

Consumer advocates at the Public Citizen released a report recently, finding the pharmaceutical industry guilty of being the biggest defrauder of the federal government under the False Claims Act (FCA).

The study found that pharmaceutical cases accounted for at least 25 percent of all federal FCA payouts over the past decade, compared with 11 percent by the defense industry. The report also found that the frequency with which the pharmaceutical industry allegedly violated federal and state laws has increased at an alarming rate.

Many of the infractions and the single largest category of financial penalties stemmed from the practice of off-label promotion of pharmaceuticals the illegal promotion of a drug for uses not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

According to their website, The Public Citizen are advocates for a healthier and more equitable world by making government work for the people and by defending democracy from corporate greed.

Avandia

GlaxoSmithKlines popular diabetes drug, Avandia, has recently been found to cause serious heart failures and even death. The FDA recently determined that there was sufficient evidence to be concerned that Avandia increased the risks for heart attacks and strokes. Further, there is evidence that the company took great strides to conceal what they knew about the drugs dangers. You may be entitled to financial compensation through an Avandia lawsuit if you or someone you love has taken Avandia and suffered from a heart attack, congestive heart failure, stroke, sudden death or health problems directly related to one of those injuries.

Darvon and Darvocet

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has announced that Xanodyne Pharmaceuticals, Inc., the maker of prescription pain medications Darvon and Darvocet, has agreed to withdraw the medications from the U.S. market, due to a study showing the drug puts patients at risk of potentially serious or even fatal heart rhythm abnormalities. The drug, Propoxyphene, was first approved by the FDA in 1957 and until very recently, has been sold to unsuspecting victims to treat pain.

Reglan

Used to treat gastrointestinal disorders like heartburn, Reglan has recently acquired the FDAs black box warning linking the drug directly to tardive dyskinesia. This disease includes involuntary and repetitive movements like tongue thrusting, eye blinking and head jerking. There is no known treatment for tardive dyskinesia and the plague of symptoms is rarely reversible.

This does not come as a surprise after the recent avalanche of law suits mounted against big pharmaceutical companies.