The opioid crisis wreaked havoc on America. The crazy thing is that it wasn’t fueled by a drug cartel out of Mexico, street gangs in America, or the Mob in big cities. It was created by and fueled by drug companies, medical doctors, and our health care system.
This certainly isn’t the first time our healthcare system deliberately caused harm, and it certainly will not be the last. Remember the Vioxx scandal? Over 50,000 Americans died from heart attacks as a result of taking that drug. Why was it a scandal? Because Merck, the drug company that produced the drug, knew it was causing deaths, yet did nothing about it. Oh wait… they did do somethings about it… they tried to cover it up. They manipulated studies, exaggerated the drugs positive effects, and did whatever they could to sell the drug.
Years ago (2012), I had heard that GlaxoSmithKline had received the largest fine ever imposed… a whopping $3 billion. It involved illegal activity that the company engaged in with three of their drugs, Paxil, Wellbutrin, and Advair. The list of crimes laid out like an organized crime’s rap sheet, including racketeering, bribery, Medicare fraud, hiding safety data, and more.
As the blatant criminal activity among the large pharmaceutical companies continued year after year, the penalties got stiffer and stiffer, and the fines being imposed got larger and larger. The drug company Purdue Pharma’s most recent fines for their role in the massive opioid epidemic has now reached $7.4 billion. The Sackler family, who owned and ran Purdue Pharma, have personally paid out more than $1.5 billion. These massive amounts of money (billions… not millions!) are being used to help victims and the families of victims whose lives have been devastated by the drugs.
To be clear, the Sackler family and Purdue Pharma knew their drug was addictive, misled doctors and patients using manipulated data and false studies, continued to run their operation for years after knowing it was causing addiction and deaths, and were directly responsible for the murder of tens of thousands of Americans.
So, why won’t the corruption stop? Because nobody from these pharmaceutical companies goes to jail. That’s right, nobody is held personally responsible for people being harmed or killed by the products they sell, knowing it is causing harm or death. That is murder!
You can argue that the sums of money they get fined is so large that it must be a deterrent, but is clearly isn’t. I would have to guess that the financial penalties are factored into the business plans of any drug coming to market. We know that every drug comes with known, and unknown, side effects that the drug manufacturer must anticipate will cost them money. So, they build those estimates into their numbers to ensure that they still make huge profits even after they pay out for harm caused by their drug.
I had read that those three drugs that GlaxoSmithKline got fined $3 billion for in 2012 made the company $24 billion. Wouldn’t you gladly pay $3 billion in penalties for $24 billion in profit? Why not engage in illegal activity, put out misleading information, and engage in fraud and racketeering for $21 billion? You and I won’t do that because no amount of money is worth ruining or ending the life of another human being. But Big Pharma doesn’t seem to care. They keep doing it! Plus, you and I would go to jail, but the drug company executives and employees don’t.
I believe that if drug company executives and those knowingly participating in the deceit, lies, and fraud are punished individually and go to jail, it might impact the safety of future medications. The Vioxx employee that sent the email discussing the cover-up of the data showing that users of their drugs are at a much higher risk of having and dying from a heart attack needs to be personally liable. The Sackler family members who ran the biggest legal drug ring that resulted in the death of over 700,000 people (which is absolutely UNACCEPTABLE!) in the U.S., and the continued destruction of countless families, communities, and individuals, need to be in prison. To date, no Sackler family member has served prison time, despite their implicit involvement and deliberate actions to cause such harm.
So… why won’t the corruption stop? Because the drug companies can just pay their way out of the messes they create. These aren’t side effects, they are direct effects. If I murder someone, I go to jail. If I steal from you, I go to jail. If I engage in tax fraud, Medicare fraud, or racketeering, I don’t pay a small portion of the money I stole and walk away… I go to jail. So, until Big Pharma owners, executives, and employees start being punished personally, the corruption will continue.
