Drug companies have aggressively and unlawfully marketed off-label use for decades, with the most egregious examples being psychiatric drugs. Pfizer were fined

Drug companies have aggressively and unlawfully marketed off-label use for decades, with the most egregious examples being psychiatric drugs. Pfizer were fined $2.3bn for off-label promotion of Bextra, Geodon, Zyvox and Lyrica. Eli Lilly were fined $1.4bn for off-label promotion of Zyprexa. GSK were fined $3bn for a slew of misconduct, including off-label promotion of a dozen drugs. AstraZeneca were fined $520m for off-label promotion of Seroquel. Abbott were fined $800m for off-label promotion of Depakote. Novartis were fined $422m for off-label promotion of Trileptal. Despite these huge fines, the unlawful marketing continues. I don't think we're taking the issue nearly seriously enough. For years, drug companies have been telling (and even bribing) doctors to prescribe drugs with serious side-effects to vulnerable patients based on no real evidence. There's a deep malaise at the heart of the pharmaceuticals industry. Marketing has become the core function of many drug companies. Blatantly fraudulent marketing is endemic. Drug companies are chalking up billion dollar fines as a cost of doing business. I urge you to read the GSK settlement agreement. They admitted to promoting the prescription of Paxil to children, while having no evidence of efficacy and hiding evidence that it increased the risk of suicide. They admitted to hiding evidence that Avandia increased the risk of congestive heart failure and myocardial infarction. They admitted to bribing doctors to prescribe half a dozen drugs for off-label use. This level of corruption would be outrageous in the developing world, let alone the richest country on earth. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/glaxosmithkline-plead-guilty-and-pay-3-billion-resolve-fraud-allegations-and-failure-report https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/glaxosmithkline-plead-guilty-...