{"id":3416,"date":"2016-12-11T17:56:12","date_gmt":"2016-12-11T17:56:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/evaggelatos.com\/?p=3416"},"modified":"2016-12-11T18:11:31","modified_gmt":"2016-12-11T18:11:31","slug":"%cf%80%cf%81%cf%8c%cf%83%cf%84%ce%b9%ce%bc%ce%bf-12%ce%b4%ce%b9%cf%82-%cf%83%cf%84%ce%b7%ce%bd-%ce%b5%cf%84%ce%b1%ce%b9%cf%81%ce%b5%ce%af%ce%b1-pfizer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/evaggelatos.com\/?p=3416","title":{"rendered":"\u03a0\u03c1\u03cc\u03c3\u03c4\u03b9\u03bc\u03bf 1,2\u03b4\u03b9\u03c2 $ \u03c3\u03c4\u03b7\u03bd \u0395\u03c4\u03b1\u03b9\u03c1\u03b5\u03af\u03b1 Pfizer!"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u03a4\u03b1 \u03c6\u03ac\u03c1\u03bc\u03b1\u03ba\u03b1 \u03c4\u03b7\u03c2 Pfizer \u03c3\u03b1\u03c2 \u03c7\u03b1\u03c1\u03af\u03b6\u03bf\u03c5\u03bd \u03c4\u03b7\u03bd \u03c0\u03b9\u03bf \u03bc\u03b5\u03b3\u03ac\u03bb\u03b7 \u03b5\u03c5\u03c4\u03c5\u03c7\u03af\u03b1!!!<\/p><\/div>\n

Announcing the penalty as a warning to all drug manufacturers, Justice Department officials said the overall settlement is the largest ever paid by a drug company for alleged violations of federal drug rules, and the $1.2 billion criminal fine is the largest ever in any U.S. criminal case. The total includes $1 billion in civil penalties and a $100 million criminal forfeiture.<\/p>\n

Authorities called Pfizer a repeat offender, noting it is the company\u2019s fourth such settlement of government charges in the last decade. The allegations surround the marketing of 13 different drugs, including big sellers such as Viagra, Zoloft, and Lipitor.<\/strong><\/p>\n

As part of its illegal marketing, Pfizer invited doctors to consultant meetings at resort locations, paying their expenses and providing perks, prosecutors said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were entertained with golf, massages, and other activities,\u201d said Mike Loucks, the U.S. attorney in Massachusetts.<\/p>\n

Loucks said that even as Pfizer was negotiating deals on past misconduct, they were continuing to violate the very same laws with other drugs.<\/p>\n

To prevent backsliding this time, Pfizer\u2019s conduct will be specially monitored by the Health and Human Service Department inspector general for five years.<\/p>\n

In an unusual twist, the head of the Justice Department, Attorney General Eric Holder, did not participate in the record settlement, because he had represented Pfizer on these issues while in private practice.<\/p>\n

Associate Attorney General Thomas Perrelli said the settlement illustrates ways the Justice Department \u201ccan help the American public at a time when budgets are tight and health care costs are rising.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perrelli announced the settlement terms at a news conference with federal prosecutors and FBI, and Health and Human Services Department officials.<\/p>\n

The settlement ends an investigation that also resulted in guilty pleas from two former Pfizer sales managers.<\/p>\n

Officials said the U.S. industry has paid out more than $11 billion in such settlements over the past decade, but one consumer advocate voiced hope that Wednesday\u2019s penalty was so big it would curb the abuses.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s so much money in selling pills, that there\u2019s a tremendous temptation to cheat,\u201d said Bill Vaughan, an analyst at Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a kind of mentality in this sector that (settlements) are the cost of doing business and we can cheat. This penalty is so huge I think consumers can have some hope that maybe these guys will tighten up and run a better ship.\u201d<\/p>\n

The government said the company promoted four prescription drugs, including the pain killer Bextra, as treatments for medical conditions different from those the drugs had been approved for by federal regulators. Authorities said Pfizer\u2019s salesmen and women created phony doctor requests for medical information in order to send unsolicited information to doctors about unapproved uses and dosages.<\/p>\n

Use of drugs for so-called \u201coff-label\u201d medical conditions is not uncommon, but drug manufacturers are prohibited from marketing drugs for uses that have not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. They said the junkets and other company-paid perks were designed to promote Bextra and other drugs, to doctors for unapproved uses and dosages, backed by false and misleading claims about safety and effectiveness.<\/p>\n

Bextra, for instance, was approved for arthritis, but Pfizer promoted it for acute pain and surgical pain, and in dosages above the approved maximum. In 2005, Bextra, one of a class of painkillers known as Cox-2 inhibitors, was pulled from the U.S. market amid mounting evidence it raised the risk of heart attack, stroke and death.<\/p>\n

A Pfizer subsidiary, Pharmacia and Upjohn Inc., which was acquired in 2003, has entered an agreement to plead guilty to one count of felony misbranding. The criminal case applied only to Bextra<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The $1 billion in civil penalties was related to Bextra and a number of other medicines.<\/p>\n

A portion of the civil penalty will be distributed to 49 states and the District of Columbia, according to agreements with each state\u2019s Medicaid program.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pfizer\u2019s top lawyer, Amy Schulman, said the settlements \u201cbring final closure to significant legal matters and help to enhance our focus on what we do best \u2014 discovering, developing and delivering innovative medicines.\u201d<\/p>\n

In her statement, Schulman said: \u201cWe regret certain actions taken in the past, but are proud of the action we\u2019ve taken to strengthen our internal controls and pioneer new procedures.\u201d<\/p>\n

In financial filings in January, the company had indicated that it would pay $2.3 billion over the allegations.<\/p>\n

The civil settlement announced Wednesday covered Pfizer\u2019s promotions of Bextra<\/strong>, blockbuster nerve pain and epilepsy treatment Lyrica<\/strong>, schizophrenia medicine Geodon<\/strong>, antibiotic Zyvox<\/strong> and nine other medicines. The agreement with the Justice Department resolves the investigation into promotion of all those drugs, Pfizer said.<\/p>\n

The government said Pfizer also paid kickbacks to market a host of big-name drugs: Aricept, Celebrex, Lipitor, Norvasc, Relpax, Viagra, Zithromax, Zoloft, and Zyrtec.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The allegations came to light thanks largely to five Pfizer employees and one Pennsylvania doctor, who will now share $102 million of the settlement money.<\/p>\n

FBI Assistant Director Kevin Perkins praised the whistleblowers who decided to \u201cspeak out against a corporate giant that was blatantly violating the law and misleading the public through false marketing claims.\u201d<\/p>\n

To rein in the abuses, the government\u2019s five-year monitoring will force Pfizer to notify doctors about Wednesday\u2019s agreement, encourage them to report any similar behavior, and publicly post any payments or perks it gives to doctors.<\/p>\n

Under terms of the settlement, Pfizer must pay $1 billion to compensate Medicaid, Medicare, and other federal health care programs. Some of that money will be shared among the states: New York, for example, will receive $66 million, according to the state\u2019s attorney general, Andrew Cuomo.<\/p>\n

When Pfizer originally disclosed the settlement figure, it also announced plans to acquire rival Wyeth for $68 billion. That deal, which would bolster Pfizer\u2019s position as the world\u2019s top drug maker by revenue, is expected to close before year\u2019s end.<\/p>\n

\u03a3\u03c7\u03cc\u03bb\u03b9\u03bf \u03b3\u03c1\u03ac\u03c6\u03bf\u03bd\u03c4\u03bf\u03c2: \u039d\u03b1 \u03bc\u03b7\u03bd \u03be\u03b5\u03c7\u03bd\u03bf\u03cd\u03bc\u03b5 \u03cc\u03c4\u03b9 \u03bf\u03b9 \u03c0\u03b5\u03c4\u03c1\u03b5\u03bb\u03b1\u03ca\u03ba\u03ad\u03c2 \u03b5\u03c4\u03b1\u03b9\u03c1\u03b5\u03af\u03b5\u03c2 \u03ba\u03b1\u03b9 \u03bf\u03b9 \u03c6\u03b1\u03c1\u03bc\u03b1\u03ba\u03b5\u03c5\u03c4\u03b9\u03ba\u03ad\u03c2 \u03ba\u03b1\u03c4\u03b5\u03c5\u03b8\u03cd\u03bd\u03bf\u03c5\u03bd \u03bc\u03b1\u03b6\u03af \u03bc\u03b5 \u03c4\u03bf\u03c5\u03c2 \u03c4\u03c1\u03b1\u03c0\u03b5\u03b6\u03af\u03c4\u03b5\u03c2 \u03c4\u03bf Eurogroup \u03ba\u03b1\u03b9 \u03c4\u03b7\u03bd \u0395.\u0395. \u03cc\u03c0\u03c9\u03c2 \u03ad\u03c7\u03bf\u03c5\u03bc\u03b5 \u03b5\u03c0\u03b1\u03bd\u03b5\u03b9\u03bb\u03b7\u03bc\u03bc\u03ad\u03bd\u03c9\u03c2 \u03b3\u03c1\u03ac\u03c8\u03b5\u03b9.<\/p>\n

Comments of the writer: Don’t forget the oil companies, the Pharamaceutical ones and the bankers rule the European Commision and the European Union since the beginning of it, named European Coal and Steel Community.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Announcing the penalty as a warning to all drug manufacturers, Justice Department officials said the overall settlement is the largest ever paid by a drug company for alleged violations of federal drug rules, and the $1.2 billion criminal fine is the largest ever in any U.S. criminal case. The total includes $1 billion in civil … <\/p>\n

\u03a3\u03c5\u03bd\u03ad\u03c7\u03b5\u03b9\u03b1 \u03b1\u03bd\u03ac\u03b3\u03bd\u03c9\u03c3\u03b7\u03c2<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58,42],"tags":[40,20],"class_list":["post-3416","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-58","category-42","tag-40","tag-20","item-wrap"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/evaggelatos.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3416","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/evaggelatos.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/evaggelatos.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/evaggelatos.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/evaggelatos.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3416"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/evaggelatos.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3416\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3421,"href":"https:\/\/evaggelatos.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3416\/revisions\/3421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/evaggelatos.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3416"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/evaggelatos.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3416"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/evaggelatos.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3416"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}