An Industry With a Troubling Record
The research and science which we rely upon for vaccine safety and efficacy are largely sponsored by the very companies that stand to make enormous profit on vaccine sales. Are drug companies truly reliable? Let’s take a look at the integrity of these large corporations and their track record.
Merck
Hid data that Vioxx doubles the risk of heart attacks and strokes. This drug killed over 60,000 people.
Merck to Pay $950 Million Over Vioxx
New York Times
By Duff Wilson
Nov. 22, 2011
Merck has agreed to pay $950 million and has pleaded guilty to a criminal charge over the marketing and sales of the painkiller Vioxx, the company and the Justice Department said Tuesday.
The negotiated settlement, which includes resolution of civil cases, was the latest of a series of fraud cases brought by federal and state prosecutors against major pharmaceutical companies.
Merck Created Hit List to “Destroy,” “Neutralize” or “Discredit” Dissenting Doctors
CBS News
By Jim Edwards
Updated on: May 6, 2009 / 7:38 PM / MONEYWATCH
Merck made a “hit list” of doctors who criticized Vioxx, according to testimony in a Vioxx class action case in Australia. The list, emailed between Merck employees, contained doctors’ names with the labels “neutralise,” “neutralised” or “discredit” next to them.
These are the vaccines currently produced by Merck.
- BCG Vaccine U.S.P. (Tuberculosis)
- ERVEBO ® (Ebola Zaire Vaccine, Live)
- GARDASIL ® 9 (Human Papillomavirus 9-valent Vaccine, Recombinant)
- M-M-R ® II (Measles, Mumps, and Rubella Virus Vaccine Live)
- PedvaxHIB ® [Haemophilus b Conjugate Vaccine (Meningococcal Protein Conjugate)]
- PNEUMOVAX ® 23 (Pneumococcal Vaccine Polyvalent)
- ProQuad ® (Measles, Mumps, Rubella and Varicella Virus Vaccine Live)
- RECOMBIVAX HB ® [Hepatitis B Vaccine (Recombinant)]
- RotaTeq ® (Rotavirus Vaccine, Live, Oral, Pentavalent)
- VAQTA ® (Hepatitis A Vaccine, Inactivated)
- VARIVAX ® (Chickenpox Vaccine Live)
- ZOSTAVAX ® (Shingles Vaccine Live)
Learn more
GlaxoSmithKline to Plead Guilty and Pay $3 Billion to Resolve Fraud Allegations and Failure to Report Safety Data
Largest Health Care Fraud Settlement in U.S. History
Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs
IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Monday, July 2, 2012
Global health care giant GlaxoSmithKline LLC (GSK) agreed to plead guilty and to pay $3 billion to resolve its criminal and civil liability arising from the company’s unlawful promotion of certain prescription drugs, its failure to report certain safety data, and its civil liability for alleged false price reporting practices, the Justice Department announced today. The resolution is the largest health care fraud settlement in U.S. history and the largest payment ever by a drug company.
Pfizer Pays $2.3 Billion to Settle Marketing Case
New York Times
By Gardiner Harris
Sept. 2, 2009
Pfizer agrees to pay $2.3 billion to settle civil and criminal allegations that it had illegally marketed its painkiller Bextra, which has been withdrawn.
“The whole culture of Pfizer is driven by sales, and if you didn’t sell drugs illegally, you were not seen as a team player,” said Mr. Kopchinski, former Pfizer sales rep
Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Agrees to Pay $490.9 Million for Marketing the Prescription Drug Rapamune for Unapproved Uses
Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Inc., a pharmaceutical company acquired by Pfizer, Inc. in 2009, has agreed to pay $490.9 million to resolve its criminal and civil liability arising from the unlawful marketing of the prescription drug Rapamune for uses not approved as safe and effective by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Justice Department announced today. Rapamune is an “immunosuppressive” drug that prevents the body’s immune system from rejecting a transplanted organ.
Sanofi Pasteur Agrees to Pay $19.8 Million to Resolve Drug Overcharges to the Department of Veterans Affairs
Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Monday, April 3, 2017
Sanofi-Pasteur has agreed to pay $19,868,194 to resolve claims that it incorrectly calculated drug prices and thereby overcharged the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for drugs under two contracts between 2002 and 2011, the Department of Justice announced today. Sanofi Pasteur, a Delaware corporation headquartered in Swiftwater, Pennyslvania, is the vaccines division of Sanofi-Aventis.
Novartis Vaccines & Diagnostics to Pay More Than $72 Million to Resolve False Claims Act Allegations Concerning TOBI
Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Tuesday, May 4, 2010
WASHINGTON – Novartis Vaccines & Diagnostics Inc. and Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation have agreed to pay $72.5 million to resolve civil False Claims Act allegations arising from the marketing of the cystic fibrosis drug TOBI, the Justice Department announced today. The settlement resolves allegations that, between Jan. 1, 2001 and July 31, 2006, Novartis and its predecessor, Chiron Corporation, caused false claims to be submitted to federal health care programs for certain off-label uses of the drug.