The Questcor/Mallinckrodt scandal is truly just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the pharmaceutical industry's sordid affairs.
Pharma company bribes thousands of doctors
Shocking documents from a federal court case show that two whistleblowers recently revealed that Questcor was bribing doctors and other healthcare staff to increase sales. According to CNN, the whistleblowers say the impropriety "was part of an intentional 'multi-tiered' strategy by Questcor Pharmaceuticals, now Mallinckrodt, to boost sales of H.P. Acthar Gel, cheating the government out of millions of dollars."
The lawsuit also alleges that the pharma company lied to the FDA. As the court documents read:
Questcor has attempted to conceal and cover-up its payment of kick-backs and its illegal promotion of H.P. Acthar Gel by making false statements to the FDA and directing employees to conceal evidence by failing to disclose … the full nature and extent of its advertising, promotional and marketing materials and plan.
Questcor's suspected dirty deeds have helped increase sales of H.P. Acthar Gel to over $1 billion annually, according to reports. Lavish Los Vegas vacations, spa treatments, expensive dinners and Starbucks gift cards are just some of the gifts healthcare professionals received for selling more Acthar gel (and also their souls).
Under the bribery scheme, Questcor encouraged healthcare providers to prescribe more Acthar gel -- including for "off-label" purposes. While prescribing an FDA-approved drug for an unapproved purpose is not expressly illegal, it should still be considered a questionable practice -- especially when money is involved. How many patients have been prescribed a drug, not because it was what was best for them, but because it put more cash in their doctor's pocket?
Questcor also came under fire for steadily increasing the price of Acthar gel between the years of 2011 and 2016, raising the price by a staggering 97,000 percent in just five years.
Corruption runs rampant in pharmaceuticals
The pharmaceutical industry is built on lies, deception and toxicity. Mallinckrodt may be claiming they're innocent in regard to Questcor's past, but they still have their own scandals to contend with. In 2016, the FDA actually pulled a generic ADHD medication manufactured by Mallinckrodt, after determining their drug had no therapeutic benefits.
Back in the 1960s and 1970s, Mallinckrodt also released toxic heavy metals and nuclear waste into local environments.
According to a 2016 report, Mallinckrodt dumped tens of thousands of barrels of nuclear waste in the St. Louis area. The 200-acre landfill located in Bridgeton, MO has been on the EPA's Superfund National Priorities list since the 1990s. EPA officials are supposedly "monitoring" the nuclear waste dump, but nothing is being done to clean it up -- even though nuclear contamination has already spread to other areas nearby.
At least 2,700 cases of cancer have reportedly been linked to nuclear waste exposure.
In Maine, widespread mercury contamination of the Penobscot River Estuary also came to a head in 2016. Mallinckrodt operated a factory along the river between 1967 and 1982 -- and during that time, the pharma giant was dumping anywhere from 1.5 to 2.5 pounds of mercury into the waterway every single day well into 1970s.
And you can bet that Mallinckrodt is not the only pharma company with a dark history. Bayer AG is one such evil company.
Learn more about pharmaceutical industry corruption at BadMedicine.news.
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