Peter Rost: Pfizer's $35 million fine: Equivalent to a speeding ticket

A BUZZFLASH GUEST CONTRIBUTION
by Peter Rost, M.D., author of "The Whistleblower, Confessions of a Healthcare Hitman"

How much money is the $35 million criminal fine Pfizer was forced to pay this week for illegal marketing of Genotropin??

Last year Pfizer's profit was $11 billion.

But that profit doesn't include all the additional profit Pfizer is hiding in off-shore tax havens.

The New York Times in 2005 described a new tax break for corporations, part of the American Jobs Creation Act, signed into law by President Bush, which allowed companies a one-year window to return foreign profits to the United States at a 5.25 percent tax rate, compared with the standard 35 percent rate. The New York Times went on to state "Pfizer . . . will repatriate at least $28 billion under the act."

Obviously, the $11 billion profit is just a fraction of Pfizer's real profit, but let's use that number anyway.

$11 billion translates into nearly $35 million in profit EVERY DAY.

So the $35 million criminal fine was equivalent to one day's profit.

Let's put that in perspective: If you make $50,000 a year, that means you earn $137 every day. That is equivalent to a regular speeding ticket.

Did a speeding ticket ever stop you from speeding again?

A BUZZFLASH GUEST CONTRIBUTION

Peter Rost, M.D., is a former Vice President of Pfizer. He became well known in 2004 when he emerged as the first drug company executive to speak out in favor of reimportation of drugs. He is the author of "The Whistleblower, Confessions of a Healthcare Hitman," . He also writes the daily "Dr. Peter Rost blog."

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