How Pfizer And The US Gov't Set Up A Fake Subsidiary

[Guest guest]

Perfect example of the FDA trying to do their job, and the doctors. More politic

bull!

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100402/1844298860.shtml

The FDA approved Bextra only for arthritis and menstrual cramps. It rejected the

drug in higher doses for acute, surgical pain. Promoting drugs for unapproved

uses can put patients at risk by circumventing the FDA's judgment over which

products are safe and effective. For that reason, " off-label " promotion is

against the law.

But with billions of dollars of profits at stake, marketing and sales managers

across the country nonetheless targeted anesthesiologists, foot surgeons,

orthopedic surgeons and oral surgeons. " Anyone that use[d] a scalpel for a

living, " one district manager advised in a document prosecutors would later

cite.

A manager in Florida e-mailed his sales reps a scripted sales pitch that claimed

-- falsely -- that the FDA had given Bextra " a clean bill of health " all the way

up to a 40 mg dose, which is twice what the FDA actually said was safe....

Internal company documents show that Pfizer and Pharmacia (which Pfizer later

bought) used a multimillion-dollar medical education budget to pay hundreds of

doctors as speakers and consultants to tout Bextra.

Pfizer said in court that " the company's intent was pure " : to foster a legal

exchange of scientific information among doctors.... But an internal marketing

plan called for training physicians " to serve as public relations spokespeople. "

Where the story gets scary is in what happened when all this came out. Federal

officials announced a criminal case over this, but they didn't actually sue

Pfizer directly. Instead, they sued a (not kidding) subsidiary of a subsidiary

of a subsidiary of a subsidiary of Pfizer, which was basically set up just take

the brunt of this lawsuit:

According to court documents, Pfizer Inc. owns (a) Pharmacia Corp., which owns

( Pharmacia & Upjohn LLC, which owns © Pharmacia & Upjohn Co. LLC, which in

turn owns (d) Pharmacia & Upjohn Co. Inc. It is the great-great-grandson of the

parent company.