Pharmaceutical Giant Pfizer Hit with 2.3 Billion Dollar Fine

Have you ever noticed how articles always refer to large companies as giants? Well, Pfizer has been hit with a giant fine for misrepresenting the benefits of three well known drugs- one of them being Geodon – an antipsychotic used to treat bipolar disorder psychosis.

Here is an excellent article on the topic:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Pfizer-to-pay-record-23B-apf-1176280604.html?x=0

Julie

1 comment to Pharmaceutical Giant Pfizer Hit with 2.3 Billion Dollar Fine

WillTheTruthWillOut?

September 3, 2009 at 1:39 am

Julie-

I was prescribed Zoloft to manage the side effects of my damaging “allergic” reaction to Geodon. A reaction which had me hiding in closets, seeing ghosts and demons and thereby effectively rendering me incapable of moving, walking or thinking without terror or with clarity.

I admit that I am some what anti-psychiatry, following my 27 years suffering of medication blunders and have, today, some anger at that blunder margin’s acceptability by Dr’s who’ve been wooed into poison script writing awards of free tropical vacations, but…

Pfizer et al. should be made to pay. Yes, I am ill, but with no biological proof testing of disorders, I might as well just script myself via magic 8 ball and see what occurs for the good or for, perhaps, the bad; my death.

Aren’t we, the patients, more often accurate in discerning the individual and personal consumer need?

I mean, a Psychiatrist with a “D” average in med school is still called Dr. Correct?

Everything is so backwards and upside down in a world where the convention of egotism and greed runs the lives of the disabled.

Sickening. F-you Pfizer!

Hi,

People with bipolar disorder have to walk such a tightrope- for example, I love my Lamictal. It helps me lead a more nomral life. I am very ill without it- and yet when it went to generic Lamotrigine, I was given incorrect information from literally ever single person I spoke to in the health care field. No one could believe that a generic could not work for some while it worked so well for others. It didn’t work for me at all. I went back to my brand Lamictal and all was fine.

All of the drugs we take have potential side effects. That is the nature of drugs- The problem is when we are not given the right information, are lied to about the information (Pfizer) or are told just to be quiet and take our meds. There are also exceptionally careful health care professionals out there who learn as much as they can about bipolar and truly want to make sure we are ok. I would not want to be a general practitioner these days and have to treat so many people with bipolar disorder. That’s for sure.

Oh, yes! The fine is justified- but financially it means nothing to a company that size- but it does send out a warning to other drug companies that they can’t have the same practices and expect to get away with them.

There have many books written on this topic- so I will end here. My main point is that we all need bipolar disorder medications that work- when you find the right ones life is exponentially better. But we also need to know what we are taking and why so that we can help ourselves get better!

Thanks for writing, Julie