Fox Guards the Henhouse with BigPharma Testing Itself

We’d love to hear what others think about BigPharma sponsoring studies about their own pharmaceuticals and thinking that this is going to generate quality information. The drug companies get slapped on the wrists when they get caught with their ethics in the grinder, but then it is forgotten by the general public. Here’s a story of interest from the “Hooked: Ethics, Medicine and Pharma” blog, which we’ll soon be featuring here in the middle column of PharmaWhistleblower website. Stay tuned in, and please share your thoughts.


Check it here.

They Thought They'd Get Away With It...But They Didn't

Biovail Pharmaceuticals, LLC, will pay over $22 million in a criminel fine after pleading guilty to conspiracy and kickback charges. Biovaile, a New Jersey-based pharmaceutical company and its employees were charged with operating a program in which Biovaile paid or caused to be paid up to $1,000 to thousands of physicians and others in order to induce them to prescribe or recommend the drug Cardizem, L.A.

BioVail Pharmaceuticals will also pay more than $2.4 million to the United States to resolve allegations that this conduct caused false claims to be submitted to the United States.

Read the official account..

Pharmaceutical companies need to be accountable. Did they know that what they were doing was illegal? How could they not? Unethical? C'mon...they paid real money to people as an incentive to get them to prescribe their drug. They did this with disregard to the patients, who might benefit more, or have a smaller ding in their pocketbook, with another drug. And physicians who took the money and prescribed the drug? SHAME ON YOU! Anyone who was prescribed this drug should ask their doctor outright if he or she was part of this "program", for their own peace of mind.