R.I. nets nearly $1M from settlement

Rhode Island will benefit directly from the $2.3 billion settlement with Pfizer Inc., the largest health care fraud settlement ever, receiving $991,215 for the R.I. Department of Human Services, state Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch announced.
The pharmaceutical giant agreed to the settlement to end civil and criminal proceedings against it for so-called “off-label” marketing of its painkiller Bextra, which has since been withdrawn at the government’s request, as well as other drugs.
As part of the deal, Pfizer will pay $1 billion in civil damages and penalties to compensate Medicaid, Medicare and various federal health care programs. States, including Rhode Island, will be reimbursed in proportion to their share of Medicaid spending.
Rhode Island’s part of the settlement is just over $2.2 million, but the majority will go to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Lynch said. Nevertheless, given the state’s financial difficulties, it’s very good news, he noted.
“With our state’s record budget deficit and dismal economic condition, the timing couldn’t be better for Rhode Island to receive close to $1 million from this settlement,” he said.
“Once again,” he added, “a pharmaceutical giant is paying for having put greed before the needs of millions of Americans relying on the safety, effectiveness and efficacy of a number of its most heavily advertised and marketed prescription drugs. In seeking to profit from health care fraud, Pfizer not only put the health of patients at risk but also adversely affected our nation’s economic health. And, ultimately, it’s the taxpayer who bears the burden of any unchecked abuse of our government’s health care programs.”
Along with the civil penalties, the money is coming from a criminal fine and forfeiture of $1.3 billion – the biggest criminal fine ever – imposed on a Pfizer subsidiary, Pharmacia & Upjohn Company Inc.,which has agreed to plead guilty to a felony violation of the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.
The plea involves the illegal marketing of Bextra, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID) that was pulled from the market in 2005, after studies linked Vioxx and other NSAIDs to increased risk of heart attacks.
Doctors often prescribe drugs for uses that aren’t specifically indicated on the label, but pharmaceutical companies are specifically forbidden to encourage them to do that. Pfizer, however, marketed Bextra for conditions and dosages beyond those that were approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
In addition, Pfizer promoted the antipsychotic drug Geodon for a variety of off-label conditions such as attention deficit disorder, autism, dementia and depression; sold the pain medication Lyrica for unapproved conditions; and made false representations about the safety and efficacy of Zyvox, an antibiotic only approved to treat certain drug-resistant infections.
Pfizer is also alleged to have illegally paid health care providers to promote and prescribe those and other drugs, giving them cash and free meals, trips and entertainment.
As a condition of the settlement, Pfizer will enter into a Corporate Integrity Agreement with HHS’s Office of the Inspector General, which will closely monitor the company’s future marketing and sales practices, Lynch said.

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