Fines Heavy for “Off Label” Promotion

Monday, July 2nd saw the largest recorded fine for health care fraud in the United States.

In an article by ProPublica, it is reported that GlaxoSmithKline agreed to pay a $3 billion fine for promoting some drugs for their “off label” uses. GSK is not the first company to be charged with off label fraud (see more in the original article) but this most recent fine is making headlines. A statement by the US Department of Justice reads as follows:

“Global health care giant GlaxoSmithKline LLC (GSK) agreed to plead guilty and to pay $3 billion to resolve its criminal and civil liability arising from the company’s unlawful promotion of certain prescription drugs, its failure to report certain safety data, and its civil liability for alleged false price reporting practices, the Justice Department announced today.”

The fine is a result of marketing the drugs Paxil, Wellbutrin, and Avandia for uses unapproved by the FDA.

Have you been prescribed or told about alternate uses for common medications?

GlaxoSmithKline Accuse of Selling Tainted Product; Settles for $750 Million

The big news in the pharmaceutical world this week is GlaxoSmithKline’s $750 million settlement for selling tainted products.  I first heard about it from the New York Times.  It especially touched a nerve for me, because working in the customer service department of ProgressiveRX, I talk with a lot of people who are nervous about ordering medications that were manufactured in India.

It’s kind of scary when we see these stories in the news.  Most media outlets spend a lot of time trying to convince consumers that the only way to obtain safe medications is through purchasing brand names or approved generics via your local pharmacy.  On the other hand, we’ll get the occasional stories about a brand-name manufacturer having to pay millions of dollars in fines to the FDA for some violation or another (check out the NY Time’s side graphic of the largest settlements between drug makers and the government).

What do stories like this bring up for you?  Do they make you more distrustful of the message that only brand names are safe to consume, or do they make you more nervous about purchasing medications in general, from any source?