Yet More Corruption in Pharma

Once again I'll move over and give the floor to Dr. Roy Poses at Health Care Renewal:
http://hcrenewal.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-pervasiveness-of-health-care.html

In the past, also following Dr. Poses' lead, I have blogged about corruption in the pharmaceutical industry:
http://brodyhooked.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-corrupt-us-health-system-and.html

This new post reviews five recent cases in which  drug companies have paid out large settlements in Federal court actions. While one or two of the cases mainly deal with financial wrongdoing (such as price-fixing), most have implications for the safety and quality of drugs supplied to patients. In none of these cases were any individuals working for the companies assigned any blame--Dr. Poses suggests that, since the whole purpose of most of the skullduggery was to make more money for the company, it is likely that instead a number of primary actors earned big bonuses. He then reminds us of the basic definition of 'corruption'--using one's power and position for personal gain. By this definition the behavior of these corporate executives was clearly corrupt.

And yet, for some reason, we think it impolite and indelicate to use such terminology in describing the behavior of U.S. corporations and their leaders. Dr. Poses suggests, and I agree, that it's time for this false delicacy to end.