Public Citizen says Pharma is biggest defrauder of US federal government under False Claims Act

The USA’s pharmaceutical industry has now become the biggest defrauder of the federal government, as determined by payments it has made for violations of the False Claims Act (FCA), surpassing the defense industry, which had long been the leader, according to a new study released last week by consumer advocacy group Public Citizen. The study found that pharmaceutical cases accounted for at least 25% of all federal FCA payouts over the past decade, compared with 11% by the defense industry.

The fraud results were a key finding from a Public Citizen analysis of all major drug company civil and criminal settlements on the state and federal levels since 1991 and found that the frequency with which the pharmaceutical industry has allegedly violated federal and state laws has increased at an alarming rate. Of the 165 pharmaceutical industry settlements comprising $19.8 billion in penalties during the past 20 years, 73% of the settlements (121) and 75 percent of the dollar amount ($14.8 billion) have occurred during the past five years.

Off-label drug promotion a factor