The Potential To Someday Stop Tasigna Treatments Should Not Be An Incentive To Take The Drug

Billion dollar fines fail to slow Novartis' use of unethical and illegal sales tactics to sell their dangerous anti-cancer drug

Thursday, February 28, 2019 - Novartis manufacturers and markets dangerous drugs like cancer-fighting nilotinib under the brand name Tasigna. The latest scheme the company is employing to increase sales of Tasigna may be the inclusion of a vaguely worded FDA endorsement that Tasigna is so effective that certain patients may actually discontinue its use the drug if their cancer has reached the remission stage. Even if that proves true, the adverse side effects of the drug are so severe, including promoting atherosclerosis, that only the most desperate patients should consider taking the drug in the first place. Consult with a Tasigna lawsuit attorney representing Tasigna claims in the United States.

Tasigna, along with a long list of other drugs made by Novartis are considered too dangerous to trust to an ordinary pharmacist to dispense in a retail drug store and must be regulated by specialty pharmacists with special training. Specialty pharmacists are expected to manage the dosages and the frequency as well as provide product warning guidance to patients that take the drugs they dispense. Specialty pharmacists usually dispense drugs that can in and of themselves cause death to a patient if taken improperly. Also, drugs dispensed by specialty pharmacists are the most expensive in the world. For example, 50 mg dosages of Novartis anti-cancer drug Tasigna, can cost upwards of $15,000 for a supply of 120 capsules. The average recommended dosage "in adults with resistant or intolerant Ph+ CML-CP and CML-AP is 400 mg orally twice daily," according to RX List. Doing the math calculates to about $1000 per day per patient, a hard pill to swallow without an excellent medical plan and a cash cow to both the specialty pharmacist and the drug's manufacturer. In 2016, Novartis made over $12 billion in net income. Like I said, a billion dollar fine here or there is not going to put a dent in the company's bottom line.

Novartis was also once the subject of an extremely serious complaint that resulted in the US Department of Justice levying a $1 billion dollar fine against the company, resulting in, according to the DOJ, "a $390 million settlement against NOVARTIS Pharmaceuticals Corp. ("NOVARTIS") in a civil fraud lawsuit based on claims that NOVARTIS gave kickbacks to specialty pharmacies. In addition to the US action, In addition, "in January 2014 and April 2015, two specialty pharmacies, Bioscrip, Inc. ("Bioscrip") and Accredo Health Group ("Accredo"), agreed to pay a total of $75 million to resolve federal and state claims against them based on the same allegations."

A one billion dollar fine may seem like an amount intended to severely punish the company however, such an amount is considered a normal cost of doing business. If a company can make 50 billion dollars from selling a drug, what difference does it make paying a billion dollars here or a billion there in the form of a fine? In the wake of the billion-dollar DOJ fine, Novartis marketing executive continued to use sales practices that are not only unethical but also put the lives of patients in grave danger. Novartis has also run afoul of the law in other countries such as Greece, Japan, Korea, and even the European Union.

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OnderLaw, LLC is a St. Louis personal injury law firm handling serious injury and death claims across the country. Its mission is the pursuit of justice, no matter how complex the case or strenuous the effort. The Onder Law Firm has represented clients throughout the United States in pharmaceutical and medical device litigation such as Pradaxa, Lexapro and Yasmin/Yaz, where the firm's attorneys held significant leadership roles in the litigation, as well as Actos, DePuy, Risperdal and others. The Onder Law Firm has won more than $300 million in four talcum powder ovarian cancer lawsuits in St. Louis. Law firms throughout the nation often seek its experience and expertise on complex litigation.