Last night I stumbled upon some figures which never cease to disgust me:
"Record-breaking multibillion-dollar settlements against big drug companies have become routine in the U.S. In recent years, pharmaceutical companies seem to have been playing a game of one-upmanship, each surpassing yet a new milestone of wrongdoing — fraudulently marketing their drugs or making misleading claims about their safety — and the threat of massive payouts appears to have offered little deterrent." Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2012/09/17/pharma-behaving-badly-top-10-drug-company-settlements/#ixzz26vy12dfU"
I ask: Why? Why doesn't a 3 billion dollar lawsuit stop drug companies from illegally marketing their drugs?
"Even the largest of settlements rarely dent the profits associated with the drugs involved: for example, the largest fine ever imposed on a drug company — July’s $3 billion judgment against GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in part for illegally marketing the antidepressants Paxil and Wellbutrin and withholding data on the health risks of the diabetes medication Avandia — accounted for just 11% of associated revenue."
The answer: Because 3 billion dollars is only 11% of their revenue! Losing 3 Billion dollars doesn't even hurt them! According to my faulty math, their revenue is 27 billion dollars! Is that for only those drugs, Paxil, Wellbutrin and Avandia, or is it GSK's total revenue? The article didn't say.
But 27 billion is a heck of a lot of revenue for one drug company!
"Record-breaking multibillion-dollar settlements against big drug companies have become routine in the U.S. In recent years, pharmaceutical companies seem to have been playing a game of one-upmanship, each surpassing yet a new milestone of wrongdoing — fraudulently marketing their drugs or making misleading claims about their safety — and the threat of massive payouts appears to have offered little deterrent." Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2012/09/17/pharma-behaving-badly-top-10-drug-company-settlements/#ixzz26vy12dfU"
I ask: Why? Why doesn't a 3 billion dollar lawsuit stop drug companies from illegally marketing their drugs?
"Even the largest of settlements rarely dent the profits associated with the drugs involved: for example, the largest fine ever imposed on a drug company — July’s $3 billion judgment against GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in part for illegally marketing the antidepressants Paxil and Wellbutrin and withholding data on the health risks of the diabetes medication Avandia — accounted for just 11% of associated revenue."
The answer: Because 3 billion dollars is only 11% of their revenue! Losing 3 Billion dollars doesn't even hurt them! According to my faulty math, their revenue is 27 billion dollars! Is that for only those drugs, Paxil, Wellbutrin and Avandia, or is it GSK's total revenue? The article didn't say.
But 27 billion is a heck of a lot of revenue for one drug company!
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