2009 Settlement For Off-label Uses Promotions
On September 2, 2009, the United States Department of Justice fined Pfizer $2.3 billion after one of its subsidiaries, Pharmacia & UpJohn Company, pled guilty to marketing four drugs including Bextra "with the intent to defraud or mislead." Pharmacia & UpJohn admitted to criminal conduct in the promotion of Bextra, and agreed to pay the largest criminal fine ever imposed in the United States for any matter, $1.195 billion. A former Pfizer district sales manager was indicted and sentenced to home confinement for destroying documents regarding the illegal promotion of Bextra. In addition, a Regional Manager pled guilty to distribution of a mis-branded product, and was fined $75,000 and twenty-four months on probation.
The remaining $1 billion of the fine was paid to resolve allegations under the civil False Claims Act case and is the largest civil fraud settlement against a pharmaceutical company. Six whistle-blowers were awarded more than $102 million for their role in the investigation. Former Pfizer sales representative John Kopchinski acted as a qui tam relator and filed a complaint in 2004 outlining the illegal conduct in the marketing of Bextra. Kopchinski was awarded $51.5 million for his role in the case because the improper marketing of Bextra was the largest piece of the settlement at $1.8 billion.
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