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About POGO's Federal Contractor Misconduct Database (FCMD)
The government awards contracts to companies with histories of misconduct such as contract fraud and environmental, ethics, and labor violations. In the absence of a centralized federal database listing instances of misconduct, the Project On Government Oversight (POGO) is providing such data. We believe that it will lead to improved contracting decisions and public access to information about how the government spends hundreds of billions of taxpayer money each year on goods and services. Report an instance of misconduct »
Ranking: 70
Pfizer, Inc.
Pfizer is the world's largest research-based pharmaceutical company. Its products include the cholesterol drug Lipitor, the erectile dysfunction drug Viagra and the anti-inflammatory Celebrex.
Federal Contract $: $1239.8m
Total Number of Instances: 11
Total Misconduct dollar amount: $3403.8m
- Annual Report
- Ethics Page
- Hoovers Profile
- Lobbying Information
- Political Activity
- Press Page
- SEC 10K
- Contracting Information
- Website
Instances of Misconduct
1. Sandler et al. v. Wyeth Pharmaceuticals
The Justice Department, along with several states, joined a False Claims Act lawsuit accusing Wyeth Pharmaceuticals of illegal off-label marketing of Rapamune, a drug used to prevent rejection of kidney transplants. The lawsuit was filed in 2005 by two former Wyeth employees, Marlene Sandler and Scott Paris, who claimed they were encouraged to promote the drug for heart, lung, liver and pancreas transplants, even though the Food and Drug Administration had only approved it for kidney transplants. The lawsuit also claimed that Wyeth singled out two hospitals with a higher proportion of black patients – the SUNY Downstate Medical Center in New York and the Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia – for off-label promotions. In a financial statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission in November 2012, Pfizer (which acquired Wyeth in 2009) disclosed that it had taken a $491 million charge for an agreement in principle with the Justice Department to settle the lawsuit.... more»
2. Hawaii Average Wholesale Price Litigation
The state of Hawaii settled with dozens of pharmaceutical companies, including Merck, Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline and Novartis, which were accused of gouging Hawaii's Medicaid program for more than a decade by fraudulently inflating their prescription drug prices. The total amount of the settlements was $82.7 million. The companies did not admit any liability or wrongdoing.... more»
3. FDA Inspection of New York City Facility
A U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspection of Pfizer’s New York City location conducted from June through August 2009 found violations of the Postmarketing Adverse Drug Experience (PADE) reporting requirements with regard to many of its products including Lipitor, Selzentry, Lyrica, Camptosar, and Viagra. Violations included failing to submit Adverse Drug Experience (ADE) reports to FDA within the required time; inadequate written procedures for the surveillance, receipt, evaluation, and reporting of adverse events; failing to submit adverse drug experiences that are both serious and unexpected to FDA within the required time; and failing to submit a 15-day Alert report for adverse drug experiences obtained from postmarketing studies in which the applicant concludes that there is a reasonable possibility that the drug caused the adverse experience.... more»
4. Illegal Marketing of Bextra and Other Drugs
In September 2009, Pfizer agreed to pay $2.3 billion to settle federal and state civil and criminal allegations that it had illegally marketed four drugs -- Bextra, Geodon, Zyvox, and Lyrica -- with the intent to defraud or mislead by promoting the drugs for non-approved uses. $1.3 billion of that was paid by Pfizer subsidiary Pharmacia & Upjohn Company, Inc., which pleaded guilty to a felony violation of the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act for its promotion of Bextra. Pfizer paid a $1 billion civil fine to settle allegations it had illegally promoted the drugs for uses that were not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and caused false claims to be submitted to Medicare and Medicaid programs. Pfizer denied all of the civil allegations, with the exception that Pfizer acknowledged certain improper actions related to the promotion of Zyvox.... more»
5. Illegal Marketing of Neurontin
Pfizer agreed to plead guilty to violating the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and pay the federal and state governments more than $430 million in civil and criminal fines to resolve false claims allegations that Warner-Lambert, which Pfizer acquired in 2000, illegally marketed its epilepsy drug Neurontin between 1996 and 2000. As part of the settlement agreement, Pfizer also agreed to enter into a Corporate Integrity Agreement with the Department of Health and Human Services.... more»
6. Lipitor False Claims
In October 2002, Pfizer and its subsidiaries Warner-Lambert and Parke-Davis paid $49 million to resolve False Claims Act charges that it had fraudulently avoided paying rebates owed to state and federal health programs by failing to report best prices for its cholesterol drug Lipitor. Parke-Davis Labs, then a subsidiary of Warner-Lambert, which was subsequently acquired by Pfizer in 2000, allegedly overstated the Lipitor best price in the first and second quarters of 1999 by concealing $250,000 of cash discounts that were given to a key managed care customer in Louisiana in exchange for favorable status on the managed care organization's drug formulary. As part of the settlement, Pfizer also entered into a five-year corporate integrity agreement with the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General to prevent similar violations from occurring in the future.... more»
7. Illegal Marketing of Genotropin
In 2007, Pfizer subsidiaries Pharmacia & Upjohn Company, Inc., and Pharmacia & Upjohn Company, LLC paid $34.7 million to resolve charges stemming from the off-label marketing of Genotropin — a human growth hormone medicine — and the inappropriate use of a vendor contract to increase the sales of other Pharmacia medicines. Both settlements cover activities that occurred at Pharmacia before that company was acquired by Pfizer in 2003. Pharmacia & Upjohn Company Inc. also pleaded guilty to a single count of offering to an outside vendor remuneration in the form of an award of a contract to manage a Genotropin patient assistance program as an inducement for recommending the purchase of Pharmacia medicines. Pharmacia & Upjohn Company LLC entered into a Deferred Prosecution Agreement with the Department of Justice.... more»
8. Illegal Testing in Nigeria
In July 2009, Pfizer agreed to pay $75 million to the Nigerian government to settle criminal and civil charges that the company illegally tested an experimental antibiotic called Trovan on children during a 1996 meningitis epidemic. Nigerian authorities claim Pfizer's test of Trovan, for which it had not properly obtained consent, killed 11 children and disabled many more. In February 2011, Pfizer settled all civil lawsuits filed in the matter for an undisclosed amount.... more»
9. McClain v. Pfizer (Whistleblower Retaliation)
In April 2010, a federal jury in Connecticut awarded $1.4 milion in compensatory damages to former Pfizer scientist Becky McClain, who claimed she was fired when she tried to raise safety concerns about genetic engineering work being done at the company's Groton laboratory. McClain, a molecular biologist, claimed she had been wrongly terminated for complaining about faulty safety equipment that allowed a dangerous lentivirus to infect her and some of her colleagues.... more»
10. Lipitor Webpage Misbranding
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cited Pfizer for violating the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act with regard to its Lipitor “Online Resources” webpage. The FDA claimed that the webpage was misleading because it made representations and/or suggestions about the efficacy of Caduet, Chantix, and Norvasc but failed to communicate any risk information associated with the use of these drugs.... more»
11. U.S. ex rel. Wetherholt and Drimer v. Pfizer (Illegal Marketing of Detrol)
Pfizer agreed to pay $14.5 million to resolve False Claims Act allegations related to its marketing of the drug Detrol. The government alleged Pfizer marketed Detrol for uses that had not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The settlement resolved the last of a group of whistleblower lawsuits filed in federal courts beginning in 2003. The other suits were settled or dismissed in 2009 as part of global settlement under which Pfizer agreed to pay $2.3 billion dollars to resolve civil and criminal claims regarding the illegal marketing of multiple drugs (see Pfizer instance, “Illegal Marketing of Bextra and Other Drugs”).... more»
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