Pfizer to pay record $2.3B penalty Play Video AP – Pfizer to pay record $2.3B penalty

FBI Assistant Director of Criminal Investigative Division Kevin Perkins, right, AP – FBI Assistant Director of Criminal Investigative Division Kevin Perkins, right, looks on as Associate …
By DEVLIN BARRETT, Associated Press Writer Devlin Barrett, Associated Press Writer – Wed Sep 2, 9:19 pm ET

WASHINGTON – Federal prosecutors hit Pfizer Inc. with a record-breaking $2.3 billion in fines Wednesday and called the world's largest drugmaker a repeating corporate cheat for illegal drug promotions that plied doctors with free golf, massages, and resort junkets.

Announcing the penalty as a warning to all drug manufacturers, Justice Department officials said the overall settlement is the largest ever paid by a drug company for alleged violations of federal drug rules, and the $1.2 billion criminal fine is the largest ever in any U.S. criminal case. The total includes $1 billion in civil penalties and a $100 million criminal forfeiture.

Authorities called Pfizer a repeat offender, noting it is the company's fourth such settlement of government charges in the last decade. The allegations surround the marketing of 13 different drugs, including big sellers such as Viagra, Zoloft, and Lipitor./.../