SEC CHARGES PFIZER WITH FOREIGN BRIBES AND IT WILL PAY $60 MILLION TO HALT DOJ INQUIRY

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has charged Pfizer with violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act after finding various subsidiaries bribed doctors and other health care providers employed by foreign governments to win business. The SEC says that Pfizer employees and agents in Bulgaria, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Italy, Kasakhstan, Russia and Serbia made illegal payments to foreign officials to get regulatory and formulary approvals, sales and increased prescriptions for its meds. In China, Pfizer employees invited high-repscribing doctors in the Chinese government to “club-like meetings” that included recreational and entertainment activities to reward past sales or prescriptions. The Pfizer China unit also created “point programs” in which government doctors could accumulate points based on the number of Pfizer prescriptions written. The points were redeemed for medical books, cell phones, tea sets and reading glasses.