USA Today

Pfizer pays $60 million to settle bribery charges

WASHINGTON (AP) – Pfizer (PFE) has agreed to pay the U.S. government $60 million to settle allegations that its employees bribed doctors and other officials in Europe and Asia to win business and boost sales.

A small fine like this is a joke to Pfizer. The CEO has that much under his bed. It is like asking Popeye for a can of spinach. He has thousands of them; it won’t even make a dent in his stock pile and will never miss it.

If the government really want to put the squeeze on these drug companies that are making trillions, that find it necessary to use bribery tactics to increase sales they should shut them down for a year or two to see if they get the message.

That 60 million is a slap on the wrist to Pfizer and they still haven’t learned.

In 2009 the largest health care fraud settlement in history was leveled against the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer that had to pay $2.3 billion to resolve criminal and civil allegations that the company illegally promoted uses of four of its drugs, including the painkiller Bextra.

You can believe one thing; the attorneys and the judges are getting their piece of the action too. I would love to put a paper trail on all that loot.

You haven’t heard the last of the big boys!