Prescription Drug Addiction Blog

The AP reported this week that giant drug manufacturer AstraZeneca settled a Federal lawsuit for fraud based on illegal promotion of its damagin drug Seroquel. Not only has this drug (and others in the anti-psychotic category) been linked to causing diabetes and creating a manic state in patients, but the drug pusher happily agreed to pay more than half a billion in fines for illegal off-label prototion. Why did they settle? Well, for one reason, they are guilty of fraud. The other reason is that this drug alone was their second-best seller thanks to those illegal practices and they grossed nearly five billion dollars off it in 2009 alone.

Here is yet another example of the outright corruption and death caused by drug companies that our FDA is allowing to occur. These people should have criminal suits filed against them and their executives put in prison. If all they have to do is pay about 10% of gross sales to hold off the government, why would anyone think these practices will stop?

Prescription drugs are arguably the biggest problem in America's healthcare system today. They cause more problems and deaths and increase costs - all to line their own pockets. It's criminal mischief times millions of patients, and this is only one company with only one drug. Multiply that by at least 5 more major companies and dozens of drugs. The result is easily tens of billioins of dollars in profits each year from illegal practices that claim lives, and that doesn't even include the people who wind up becoming dependent on the drugs and need an addiction treatment center.