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Abbott Labs to Pay $1.5 Billion for Unapproved Marketing

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Posted on May 12, 2012
CarbonNYC (CC BY 2.0)

The pharmaceutical company will pay $1.5 billion to settle criminal and civil liability charges for promoting the drug Depakote for uses not approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

The drug is a neurological medicine labeled to treat mania, epilepsy and migraines, and can lead to life-threatening and deadly pancreatitis in children and adults.

The money will be distributed among 49 states and will go toward consumer protection, health care and other services. —ARK

The Epoch Times:

According to DOJ, Abbott Labs maintained a specialized sales force to market the drug for such purposes, targeting elderly dementia patients in nursing homes.

“Under the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA), a company in its application to the FDA must specify each intended use of a drug. A company’s promotional activities must be limited to only the intended uses that FDA approved. In fact, promotion by the manufacturer for other uses—known as ‘off-label’ uses—renders the product misbranded,” states the press release.

The settlement is the second-largest payment ever made by a drug company. It includes a criminal fine and forfeiture totaling $700 million, as well as civil settlements with the federal government and 49 states, including the District of Columbia, totaling $800 million.

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prisnersdilema's avatar

By prisnersdilema, May 14, 2012 at 6:17 am Link to this comment

“The drug is a neurological medicine labeled to treat mania, epilepsy and
migraines, and can lead to life-threatening and deadly pancreatitis in children and
adults.”

Where to begin, first of all there were many thousands of deaths from this
medication, some of whom were young children.  And because of the profitability
of medications like this there was an 800% increase in the diagnosis of Bi-Polar
disease in the last several decades. Toddlers were given the drug, and diagnosed
with Bi-Polar disease in as little as two hours time.

There has never been any scientific evidence to support the belief that psychiatric
illness is cause by biological malfunction. That is something dreamed up by the
pharmaceutical industry as an advertising gimmick.  However many psychotropic
medications, damage the brains functioning and do in fact initiate neurological
damage.

WHO, the world health organization,  has conducted a number of studies on
psychiatric treatment, theses studies show that the USA, has far worse treatment
outcomes for patients with psychiatric illness than undeveloped countries like
Nigeria. The studies implicate the use of Psychotropic medications, as the reason
for this.

People who are prescribed psychiatric medications, run the risk of severe medical
complications from those medications, including death, the exacerbation of their
symptoms,  as well as mania, and psychosis.  Many drugs were approved by the
FDA based on fraudulent data submitted by pharmaceutical companies. 

The pharmaceutical companies know their drugs are dangerous, they know they
kill. They know they cause brain damage, they know they cause addiction, with
drawl syndromes, and they know they don’t work. 

But since they aren’t putting a gun to your head and pulling the trigger, they aren’t
charged. At the very least the executives from every pharmaceutical company,
psychiatrist,  and insurance company,  that knowingly killed children, should be
charged with manslaughter over each death.

In China they would be executed. Here they just bribe the government, that’s all
this fine is a bribe.

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By Big B, May 14, 2012 at 5:24 am Link to this comment

The poor go to jail, the rich pay a fine.

That axiom has been true since time in memmeorium. The only times the rich have paid was after a revolution, and they paid with there heads.

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DannyHaszard's avatar

By DannyHaszard, May 13, 2012 at 3:45 am Link to this comment

Reg-Abbott labs off-label promotion of Depakote.
I took Depakote for 6 years was ineffective for my condition PTSD,the doctor kept telling me to take it.
The saga of the schizophrenia drugs is one of incredible profit.Eli Lilly made $65 BILLION on Zyprexa franchise. Described as *the most successful drug in the history of neuroscience*.There is a whole underclass block of our society,including children in foster care that are the market for these drugs,but have little voice of protest if harmed by them.
—Daniel Haszard

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DannyHaszard's avatar

By DannyHaszard, May 13, 2012 at 3:44 am Link to this comment

Reg-Abbott labs off-label promotion of Depakote.
I took Depakote for 6 years was ineffective for my condition PTSD,the doctor kept telling me to take it.
The saga of the schizophrenia drugs is one of incredible profit.Eli Lilly made $65 BILLION on Zyprexa franchise. Described as *the most successful drug in the history of neuroscience*.There is a whole underclass block of our society,including children in foster care that are the market for these drugs,but have little voice of protest if harmed by them.
—Daniel Haszard http://www.zyprexa-victims.com
*tell the truth don’t be afraid*

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By Steve E, May 12, 2012 at 10:08 pm Link to this comment

Yup, no one goes to jail and the fines are a tax write-off. Just a cost for doing
business. Ya win some and lose some. Meanwhile corporate stooges are attaining
celebrity status along with the political elites. How can we look our young square
in the eye anymore and preach about honesty and integrity.

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By berniem, May 12, 2012 at 1:47 pm Link to this comment

Gee, and how many billions did they “earn” before this pathetic little wrist slap? Seems that the more appropriate punishment would have entailed prosecution of all of the executives involved, revocation of the corporation’s charter, confiscation of assets, and placement in receivership until a new mangement arrangement could be arrived at. Corporations have grown in size making them virtual nation states in their own right and beyond the reach of rational law simply because they have bought those who are responsible for making the laws which are needed to keep them is check!

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