September 3, 200917 yr WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal prosecutors hit Pfizer Inc. with a record-breaking $2.3 billion in fines Wednesday and called the world's largest drugmaker a repeating corporate cheat for illegal drug promotions that plied doctors with free golf, massages, and resort junkets. Announcing the penalty as a warning to all drug manufacturers, Justice Department officials said the overall settlement is the largest ever paid by a drug company for alleged violations of federal drug rules, and the $1.2 billion criminal fine is the largest ever in any U.S. criminal case. The total includes $1 billion in civil penalties and a $100 million criminal forfeiture. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Pfizer-to-pay-record-23B-apf-1176280604.html?x=0
September 3, 200917 yr Woo hoo! The mutual fund that I'm most heavily invested in has close to 16% of its assets in Pfizer! :lol: FWIW, though, the fine was first reported in January, so hopefully the hits to the stock have already been done. We'll see tommorow though....
September 3, 200917 yr Woo hoo! The mutual fund that I'm most heavily invested in has close to 16% of its assets in Pfizer! :lol: FWIW, though, the fine was first reported in January, so hopefully the hits to the stock have already been done. We'll see tommorow though.... I don't think it will be a positive day for them. :lol: Shorts will be all over that and it will drive it even lower than just a typical sell off would.
September 3, 200917 yr I don't think it will be a positive day for them. :lol: Shorts will be all over that and it will drive it even lower than just a typical sell off would. Agreed. May not be a bad time to jump in there, as PFE really isn't in that bad of spot (ya know, besides the largest civil penalty in U.S. history) :lol: I think that the Wyeth acquisition will pay off. I like this company, although, as I read in an article, if I buy Pfizer stocks, I become of a part of that whole evil healthcare capitalists scheme.
September 3, 200917 yr Pre-market: 16.19 -0.09 (-0.55%) That's after hours trading. Maybe it won't fall to hard.
September 3, 200917 yr WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal prosecutors hit Pfizer Inc. with a record-breaking $2.3 billion in fines Wednesday and called the world's largest drugmaker a repeating corporate cheat for illegal drug promotions that plied doctors with free golf, massages, and resort junkets. Announcing the penalty as a warning to all drug manufacturers, Justice Department officials said the overall settlement is the largest ever paid by a drug company for alleged violations of federal drug rules, and the $1.2 billion criminal fine is the largest ever in any U.S. criminal case. The total includes $1 billion in civil penalties and a $100 million criminal forfeiture. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Pfizer-to-pay-record-23B-apf-1176280604.html?x=0 Yeah, stuff like this has nothing to do with the outrageous cost of health care in this country.
September 3, 200917 yr Yeah, stuff like this has nothing to do with the outrageous cost of health care in this country. I'm surprised that you agree that the government's $2.3 billion punishment will be passed on the consumers as well.
September 3, 200917 yr I'm surprised that you agree that the government's $2.3 billion punishment will be passed on the consumers as well. No, what should happen is, for their sins, they should be forced to have their prices fixed for a set period of time so they can't pass it on to consumers. Then these fines would have some real teeth, and maybe these crooked companies would operate in an ethical manner. Pay for the fine out of their gargantuan marketing/advertising budget. Then the benefits would be two-fold: they'd be punished for their unethical actions, plus it would dramatically reduce the number of vanity drug commercials that flood the airwaves.
September 3, 200917 yr No, what should happen is, for their sins, they should be forced to have their prices fixed for a set period of time so they can't pass it on to consumers. Then these fines would have some real teeth, and maybe these crooked companies would operate in an ethical manner. Pay for the fine out of their gargantuan marketing/advertising budget. Then the benefits would be two-fold: they'd be punished for their unethical actions, plus it would dramatically reduce the number of vanity drug commercials that flood the airwaves. Jim- you are a smart guy- you do realize that price-fixing would have negative consequences too, right?
September 3, 200917 yr Jim- you are a smart guy- you do realize that price-fixing would have negative consequences too, right? You'd see a lot less Lipitor on the market at that point, leading to some shortages thus increasing the workload on the pharmacies and doctors while getting patients switched over to other medications. I say that single-payer systems and socialized coverages in other countries have more to do with the prices of medications than advertising. Advertising is there to try to drum up business so they can make back the loss they are operating at in other countries that refuse to pay fair market value for their medications.
September 3, 200917 yr Jim- you are a smart guy- you do realize that price-fixing would have negative consequences too, right? Sometimes sacrifices have to be made to teach tough lessons to rogue companies. I'm sick and tired of big companies being able to operate with impunity while running roughshod over the American landscape. Is it too much to ask that the business world operate in an ethical manner?
September 3, 200917 yr Sometimes sacrifices have to be made to teach tough lessons to rogue companies. I'm sick and tired of big companies being able to operate with impunity while running roughshod over the American landscape. Is it too much to ask that the business world operate in an ethical manner? How about we do a contest? When the politicians of the world operate ethically then the businesses have to as well. Seems like a fair trade to me.
September 3, 200917 yr Sometimes sacrifices have to be made to teach tough lessons to rogue companies. I'm sick and tired of big companies being able to operate with impunity while running roughshod over the American landscape. Is it too much to ask that the business world operate in an ethical manner? Whatever floats your boat. If by "sacrifices" you mean that people with cholesterol problems can't get medicine, then I guess "sacrifices" are OK.
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