Wednesday, 2 September 2009
US drugmaker Pfizer has agreed to pay $2.3 Billion in the largest healthcare fraud settlement in the history of the Department of Justice
Pfizer illegally promoted four drugs and caused false claims to be submitted to government healthcare programs for uses that were not medically accepted. Missouri will receive $22 million as part of the settlement.
The civil settlement also relates to allegations that Pfizer paid bribes to healthcare providers to induce them to prescribe Bextra, an anti-inflammatory drug, Geodon, an antipsychotic drug, Zyvox, an antibiotic and Lyrica, an epilepsy treatment.
Geodon is a newer atypical antipsychotic, generic name ziprasidone hydrochloride, in the major tranquilizer category. Suicidal thoughts and violence are among the possible side effects of such antipsychotics. USA Today on May 2, 2006Â reported a study that showed at least 45 children died between 2000 and 2004 from the side effects of this kind of antipsychotic drug. Despite an adults-only FDA approval for these drugs, up to 2.5 million children were prescribed them. As the FDA’s Adverse Drug Reactions reporting database only collects 1% to 10% of drug-induced side effects and reported deaths, the true child death rate could be between 450 and several thousand.
It could be dangerous to immediately cease taking psychiatric drugs because of potential significant withdrawal side effects. No one should stop taking any psychiatric drug without the advice and assistance of a competent medical doctor.
Download and read the CCHR report The Side Effects of Common Psychiatric Drugs available here.
Recognize that the real problem is that psychiatrists fraudulently diagnose life’s problems as an “illness”, and stigmatize unwanted behavior or study problems as “diseases.” Psychiatry’s stigmatizing labels, programs and treatments are harmful junk science; their diagnoses of “mental disorders” are a hoax – unscientific, fraudulent and harmful. All psychiatric treatments, not just psychiatric drugs, are dangerous, and can cause crime.
It is vital that you and your associates watch the video documentary Making A Killing – The Untold Story of Psychotropic Drugging. Containing more than 175 interviews with lawyers, mental health experts, the families of psychiatric abuse victims and the survivors themselves, this riveting documentary rips the mask off psychotropic drugging and exposes a brutal but well-entrenched money-making machine. The facts are hard to believe, but fatal to ignore. Watch the video online or request a free copy from CCHR International.