University Researchers Are Seen as Enablers in Latest Major Drug Fraud

By Paul BaskenFederal prosecutors on Thursday concluded another multibillion-dollar settlement with a major pharmaceutical company accused of illegally marketing its drugs.In this case, the company was Johnson & Johnson, the total payment was $2.2-billion, and the key drug was Risperdal, which was approved by federal regulators to treat schizophrenia in adults but was being marketed for other patients, including children with behavioral problems.As with similar instances involving other major drug companies in recent years, the case file includes a list of academic researchers who wrote articles for medical journals that the company allegedly used to overstate the benefits and understate the risks of a blockbuster drug."These are not victimless crimes," the U.S. attorney general, Eric H. Holder Jr., said on Monday in announcing the settlement, which was filed on Thursday in federal court in Philadelphia. "Americans trust that the medications prescribed for their parents and grandparents, for their children, and for themselves are selected because they are in the patient's best interest."A primary investigation underlying the case identified 44 articles written by university scientists and colleagues, many of them joint collaborations that included Johnson & Johnson researchers, described as being overseen in some manner by the company.The authors listed in the investigation included more than 50 researchers at some two dozen universities, mostly in the United States, ...
Source: PharmaGossip - Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Source Type: blogs