Part 2 in a series of guest blogs about pharmaceutical litigation and medical devices
from James McHugh Jr., Esq.
Lopez McHugh LLP, Attorneys and Counselors at Law
In 2006, Glaxo recalled Paxil, an antidepressant, because some of the pills lacked an active ingredient—meaning the pills were useless. Problem is, Glaxo did not bother to warn patients who might have been taking them, even though abruptly stopping the drug can lead to thoughts of suicide; many patients were successful. And this was even after the FDA seized some lots of Paxil in 2005 for the very same reason.[1] But hey, they managed to sell $11.7 billion worth of the drug in the U.S. alone, so they still turned a profit.[2]
In July 2010, the FDA held hearings concerning the diabetes drug Avandia. The FDA accused Glaxo of repeatedly submitting sloppy data and failing to follow up on reports of problems among patients, including stroke and premature death. Glaxo had ignored (or covered up) this information even though the drug had been on the market since 1999.[3]
Today’s corporate bigwigs have no reason to care what happens to the end users of their products, because they rarely face civil or criminal penalties. Obviously, it is more difficult to impose criminal liability on a large corporation when the decision making process is divided among a number of individuals.
CEOs don’t even have to worry about angering their own shareholders. So what if the company will wind up having to pay millions of dollars years from now? The president of Evil Drugs, Inc. isn’t planning on sticking around that long. He’ll make his millions, then at the first opportunity jump ship to another corporation. Corporate America just keeps putting the same people in charge. That’s why, after the recent government bailouts of the banks, the same people who put us in the mess in the first place wound up keeping their jobs. Evil protects itself.
Federal and state attorneys general should consider more criminal litigation; the FDA has recently indicated a desire to prosecute corporate executives at drug companies that repeatedly violate good manufacturing practices.[4] In the meantime, as there is no real potential for criminal punishment, our civil system is really the last line of defense against corporate America.
We do our part to bring some form of justice to the system, but let’s face it: the best we can do is provide for our clients’ needs, provide for their families, and hope that one day big pharma will finally stop putting profit motive before patient safety.
Learn more about unsafe drugs like Avandia and Fosamax or faulty medical devices such as Medtronic defibrillator leads at LegalView.
[1] Justin Blum, David Voreacos and Andrew Harris. Glaxo Agrees to Pay $750 Million to Settle Defective Drug Suit. The Bloomberg News. Oct 27, 2010[2] Jef Feeley and Margaret Cronin Fisk. “Glaxo Said to Have Paid $1 Billion in Paxil Suits.” The Bloomberg News. December 14, 2009.
[3] CNN Wire Staff, “FDA researcher blasts manufacturer’s tests on diabetes drug.” July 12, 2010.
[4] Parija Kavilanz , “Recall fallout: FDA puts execs on notice.” CNN Money, August 24, 2010.
Tags: Avandia, Expert Blog, medical devices, unsafe drugs
This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 11th, 2011 at 12:00 pm and is filed under Avandia, Expert Blog, Lopez McHugh, Unsafe Drugs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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