Pfizer Pays $491M For Illegal Rapamune Marketing That Targeted Blacks

One of the more sensational whistleblower episodes has finally been resolved now that Pfizer has agreed to pay nearly $491 million to settle civil and criminal charges that Wyeth, which the drugmaker purchased four years ago, spent a decade promoting the Rapamune kidney transplant drug for a variety of unapproved uses, and these resulted in false claims submitted to federal healthcare programs. The pair of lawsuits drew considerable attention because the drugmaker was accused of targeting African-Americans, a high-risk patient group. Wyeth managers were allegedly aware of limited data for Rapamune use in such patients, but deliberately targeted two hospitals with mostly African-American patients – Philadelphia’s Einstein Medical Center and New York’s SUNY Downstate Medical Center. Rapamune is supposed to be administered following a kidney transplant and used in conjunction with cyclosporine and corticosteroids. However, cyclosporine is supposed to be withdrawn after two to four months, because it can eventually poison the kidneys, although this step was not approved for African-Americans and other high-risk groups. African-Americans are considered high-risk because they exhibit more vigorous immune responses to transplants. The lawsuits, which were filed by a pair of former Wyeth sales reps and a pharmacist, also charged Wyeth offered off-label studies, abstracts and lists of studies to use when marketing Rapamune for off-label use, along with kickbacks to doctors and h...
Source: Pharmalot - Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Source Type: blogs