Google Pays $500 Million in Settlement for Online Pharmaceutical Ads
Prescription drug prices in the United States are through the roof. In 2005, we spent an estimated $251.8 billion on prescription drugs alone. This year, prescription drug sales are expected to reach $310 billion.
If you are lucky enough to have health insurance, then some of your costs associated with filling a prescription are paid. But if you are one of the more than 50 million people who are uninsured in this country, you are forced to pay for prescriptions at full price.
In the last few years, people have turned to Internet pharmacies to get their prescriptions for a reduced price. But under U.S. law, foreign pharmacies cannot legally ship prescription drugs to consumers in the United States if they are not first approved by the FDA. The worry is that because these drugs are not approved by the FDA, they are potentially dangerous to consumers.
Google, Inc. learned this lesson the hard way when it sold advertisements to Canadian pharmacies that were illegally selling prescription drugs to American consumers. Rather than face criminal prosecution for allegedly improperly profiting from these advertisements, Google agreed to pay the U.S. government $500 million in a settlement.
Sales of online advertisements for health care services and products generate nearly $1.3 billion each year. Google’s ad sales helped the company generate $39 billion in cash by the end of June 2011.
Critics worry that this slap on the wrist for Google will not do much to help consumers who have their health compromised by these illegally imported prescription drugs. And while U.S. officials continue to track down companies that endanger the health of U.S. citizens, America cannot seem to escape its growing prescription pill problem.
