This past February, I wrote about the spread of physician learning concerning harmful side-effects of Cox-2 inhibitors, including Bextra. Today, The New York Times reports that Pfizer has agreed to pay a $2.3 billion settlement with CMS over the company’s illegal promotion of its now-withdrawn painkiller, Bextra.
“Marketing fraud cases against pharmaceutical companies have become almost routine, with almost every major drug maker having been accused of giving kickbacks to doctors or shortchanging the Medicaid program on prices. Prosecutors said that they had become so alarmed by the growing criminality in the industry that they had begun increasing fines into the billions of dollars and would soon start charging doctors individually as well.”