'Dear god. I read this and couldn't believe it. For the record, I am pleasantly shocked to see something like this on CNN. Not the kind of story I'd usually expect from them because it's incredibly substantive. Basically, the feds caught Pfizer marketing off-label uses for a dangerous drug at TWICE the approved dose, and because Pfizer is SO enormous and makes SO many important medications for Medicaid and Medicare patients...they couldn't bust them. They instead "busted" a shell company that Pfizer created, and Pfizer was left with nothing more than a fine that cost them 3 lousy months' worth of profits from that ONE medication. We are well and truly OWNED, my friends. They might as well start tattooing our babies with brand names.'That is essentially what happened when Pfizer, the world's largest pharmaceutical company, was caught illegally marketing Bextra, a painkiller that was taken off the market in 2005 because of safety concerns.
When the criminal case was announced last fall, federal officials touted their prosecution as a model for tough, effective enforcement. "It sends a clear message" to the pharmaceutical industry, said Kevin Perkins, assistant director of the FBI's Criminal Investigative Division.
But beyond the fanfare, a CNN Special Investigation found another story, one that officials downplayed when they declared victory. It's a story about the power major pharmaceutical companies have even when they break the laws intended to protect patients.'
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