Image via WikipediaAccording to the USA Today, the nations largest drug companies have paid at least $8 Billion in fraud fines since 2002. Pfizer alone has paid almost $3 Billion since 2002.These fines include such conduct as illegal kickbacks, improper marketing of drugs, and refusing to pay rebates to the government.
Government investigators say their hands are tied. They can't deny treatment to people who need it, which leaves them with leveling fines and extracting promises not to defraud the government in the future, a promise that is often ignored.
A Bipartisan bill has been introduced that would make it easier for the government to exclude individuals from working with the government even after they have left a company where fraud occurred
Drug companies spent more than $200 million lobbying Congress in 2011.
