Tag: big pharma

‘Largest Tax-dodging Scheme in the History of Big Pharma’: Pfizer Sold $20 Billion of Drugs to Americans in 2019, Paid No Taxes

By shifting profits offshore, Pfizer carried out what lawmakers say may be the ‘largest tax-dodging scheme in the history of big pharma,” according to Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).

In 2019, Pfizer sold $20 billion worth of drugs to American consumers but reported zero dollars in taxable income to the U.S. government — the drugmaker claimed that all of its profits were earned offshore, according to a new investigation into the company published by the committee last week.

The scheme allowed Pfizer to avoid billions of dollars in taxes in a single year, Wyden said.

The company also signed nondisclosure agreements with the governments of Singapore and Puerto Rico about special tax deals in a move to conceal from Congress the details of its tax-avoidance plan.

Since 2021, Wyden has been spearheading investigations into large drugmakers’ tax strategies. He said Pfizer’s scheme was even larger than those of other Pharma giants, including AbbVie, Merck, Bristol Myers Squibb and Amgen. The committee’s investigation of the other drug companies uncovered similar large schemes to avoid paying corporate income tax rate on profits from drug sales to U.S. patients.

“Pfizer joins a growing list of massively-profitable pharmaceutical corporations that show little-to-zero U.S. profits on tax returns, even though the U.S. is big pharma’s largest customer market,” the report said.

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Iowa takes on Big Pharma: Bill challenges vaccine makers’ liability shield

  • A subcommittee in the Iowa House of Representatives advanced House File 712, which would prohibit the sale and administration of vaccines in the state unless manufacturers waive certain liability protections granted under federal law. The bill specifically targets design defect claims, aiming to hold manufacturers accountable for injuries caused by inherently dangerous vaccine designs.
  • The bill addresses concerns about the VICP, established under the 1986 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act, which has compensated only 11,671 out of 24,602 claims over three decades. Critics argue the system inadequately serves the public and prioritizes corporate interests over accountability.
  • The 2011 Supreme Court ruling in Bruesewitz v. Wyeth reinforced vaccine manufacturers’ immunity from design defect lawsuits, sparking criticism. Justice Sotomayor’s dissent highlighted the lack of incentives for manufacturers to improve vaccine designs, a concern echoed by advocates like Kim Mack Rosenberg of Children’s Health Defense.
  • The bill reflects growing public skepticism toward vaccine mandates and liability protections, fueled by increased access to information and the COVID-19 pandemic. A 2022 Iowa poll showed only 34% support for mandatory school vaccinations, signaling a demand for greater accountability in the pharmaceutical industry.
  • While supporters argue the bill would restore accountability and improve public trust, opponents warn it could lead to higher costs, reduced vaccine access, and unfounded injury claims. The bill has ignited a broader conversation about balancing corporate responsibility, public health, and individual rights, with potential implications for national vaccine policy.

In a bold move that could reshape the landscape of vaccine accountability, an Iowa House of Representatives subcommittee advanced a bill that would bar the sale and administration of vaccines in the state unless manufacturers waive some of the liability protections granted under federal law. House File 712, introduced by State Rep. Charley Thomson, aims to hold vaccine manufacturers accountable for injuries caused by design defects, a move that has sparked heated debate about corporate responsibility, public health, and individual rights.

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The Truth: No Vaccines Are Safe For Children

The number of vaccines given to babies and children has increased dramatically without the necessary due diligence by regulatory authorities. Parents are urged to adopt a common-sense, ‘Safer to Wait” approach.

Growing international concerns about vaccine regulatory processes and vaccine safety have emerged following the widespread regulatory failure of Covid-19 vaccines. The Covid-19 crisis has demonstrated that regulatory bodies, once public watchdogs, are now at best incompetent and at worst have been deeply corrupted by pharmaceutical industry interests.

In the context of emerging revelations of regulatory body incompetence and corruption, e.g. The Perseus Report, the WCH Health and Science Committee notes that:

  • Several research studies now indicate that vaccinated children have far worse health outcomes with higher rates of many chronic diseases than non-vaccinated children.
  • The integrity of scientific research and the regulatory process of childhood vaccines, including the new nasal ‘flu’ vaccine, now being administered en masse in schools is in question.
  • Pharmaceutical corporations have a long-standing history of misrepresenting products that cause injuries and deaths. Pfizer, for instance, has paid the largest criminal settlement in history for drug fraud. The childhood vaccination schedule provides these unscrupulous corporations with unregulated access to the bodies of our children.
  • Modern society is experiencing unprecedented rates of autism, asthma, allergies, inflammatory bowel disease, diabetes, obesity, depression and more, for which the root cause/s have not been established.
  • Much of what we have been told about the success of early vaccines, including smallpox and polio vaccines is emerging as untrue. Clean water, modern plumbing, hygiene, refrigeration, and improved nutrition are real factors that have correlated with the dramatic reduction in many infectious diseases over the past century.
  • National regulatory agencies have never done the necessary evaluation to determine whether vaccines given to children alone or together according to the ever-expanding childhood vaccination schedules are associated with poor health outcomes compared with children who are not vaccinated.
  • National regulatory agencies have been turning a blind eye to the mounting evidence linking childhood vaccination with autism that has emerged since a possible link was first suggested in 1998.
  • National regulatory agencies have also been turning a blind eye to the mounting evidence linking childhood vaccination with other diseases, including asthma, allergies, and bowel disease.
  • The vast majority of children find vaccination with needles painful and long-term psychological harms, including disruption to breastfeeding and maternal bonding, have not been properly evaluated.
  • There are serious concerns among experts that existing childhood vaccines will be converted to mRNA technology, which has never been proven safe for use in vaccines for adults let alone children, and that this will be done without public awareness, consent and a robust research and regulatory process.
  • With regard to Covid-19 vaccination, evidence from independent experts and official international databases show that the Covid-19 vaccines are not effective and are not safe, raising serious questions around the authorisation of the Covid-19 vaccines for babies and children.

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The bulk of credible science finds vaccines ‘can and do’ cause autism

It’s amazing how many media figures remain so uninformed on the proven links between vaccines and autism. Without knowing the subject thoroughly, they keep falsely claiming the links have been “debunked.”

Quite the opposite.

I understand, because I was surprised, too, at what I learned when I was first assigned to cover the subject of vaccine safety at CBS News in 2001. At the time, I knew nothing about how vaccines work, scientific studies linking them to autism and many side other effects, or the medical and industry complex set up to defend them at any cost.

As an investigative reporter looking into this topic independently for more than two decades, I have helped expose a lot of what many are desperate to cover up. Some of my work on the topic has received journalism awards, and it has been cited favorably in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The news that’s been revealed in this time period, including compelling studies, testimony, court cases, and other evidence, is now easily accessible to any reporter who knows better than to simply google and get the industry and medical establishment approved narratives; or rely upon information from the vast network of groups, organizations, and fake “fact checkers,” ultimately set up by industry to spin us all.

With Donald Trump about to enter a second term in office, appointing and relying upon figures in public health who are familiar with the facts on these controversies (and willing to act upon them), we are already being exposed to incessant and increasingly desperate propaganda.

The propagandists have important connections and plenty of money to spend to wield influence, as they long have, with federal agencies, members of Congress, and in media. They support fake “fact check” groups like Health Feedback and Science Feedback, dominate social media narratives, provide “journalism resources” that give false information, control medical information distributed by our once-esteemed public health agencies, influence medical associations, and back nonprofits that are designed to sound independent but put out industry misinformation.

They have proven they will go to any lengths to protect their billion dollar profits and to try to stop any disruption of the corrupt medical establishment built to support them.

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Depression and Anxiety Affect Millions of People. For Big Pharma, It’s a Big Profit Opportunity

According to the World Health Organization, mental health conditions are one of the biggest health challenges globally, affecting over 450 million people worldwide.

Depression and anxiety are the most common, impacting nearly 30% of adolescents worldwide and ranking as the 13th and 24th leading causes of disability respectively.

In today’s medical system, antidepressants are still the primary treatment for depression and anxiety, making up 75% of all prescriptions for these conditions.

While antidepressant dispensing was already on the rise, the COVID-19 pandemic brought about an even greater increase. Between January 2016 and December 2022, research shows a 66.3% increase in monthly antidepressant dispensing rates.

Today, despite growing concerns about their safety, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and serotonin and norepinephrine (noradrenaline) reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) — such as Citalopram, Fluoxetine, Sertraline and Mirtazapine — continue to be widely prescribed across all age groups.

This raises important questions about their long-term impact and whether the medical model that prioritizes medication is truly the best approach.

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How Covid “vaccines” paved the way for mRNA Cancer “vaccines”

The unprecedentedly speedy development and approval of the various Covid “vaccines” – most using previously unsuccessful mRNA technology – is considered a scientific miracle by ardent followers of The ScienceTM.

Many others – us included – see it another way: one of the greatest scams ever perpetrated against a scared public, and a potentially incredibly dangerous and even deadly one.

But the damage done by that process doesn’t stop at the Covid “vaccines” themselves, they have opened the door for more and more “vaccines” to be rushed to market. That includes potentially “bespoke cancer vaccines”, of which there are currently hundreds of medical trials taking place around the world.

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Purdue Pharma Files New Bankruptcy Plan For $7.4 Billion Opioid Settlement

Drugmaker Purdue Pharma filed a new bankruptcy plan on Tuesday, marking a major step towards finalizing a proposed opioid settlement of $7.4 billion.

The maker of the powerful semi-synthetic opioid oxycodone—also marketed as OxyContin and by other names—filed a Chapter 11 reorganization plan and related disclosure statement with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

According to a statement announcing the proposal, a new public benefit company “100 percent devoted to improving the lives of Americans,” would be created after Purdue is dissolved, and its assets transferred to the new company.

The Sackler family, which previously owned Purdue Pharma, would “have no ownership interest or role with the new company,” according to the statement, which noted family members have had no involvement in Purdue since the end of 2018.

The new company would have a core mission to abate the opioid crisis and improve public health, including by developing and distributing lifesaving opioid use disorder and overdose rescue medicines for no profit, the statement said.

It would also be run by a board appointed by state governments, the statement added.

Assuming full creditor participation, the plan would see the Sacklers pay out approximately $6.5 billion in installments over the next 15 years—subject to certain reserves—to states, local governments, and individuals harmed by the crisis.

They would pay $1.5 billion on the day the reorganization plan becomes effective and Purdue would contribute 100 percent of its assets, “with an expected $900 million in cash available for distribution on the day of emergence,” according to the statement.

Purdue said it expects widespread creditor support for the deal.

According to the statement, the latest plan “is the only opioid settlement to date that meaningfully compensates individual victims” and, assuming full participation, “individual victims will receive more than $850 million, subject to certain reserves.”

A court hearing to approve the disclosure statement is currently expected to take place in May, according to the statement.

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Taxpayers Paid $6.2 Billion to Develop Weight-loss Drugs. Pharma Charges Consumers a Premium — Driving Up Healthcare Costs for Everyone

U.S. taxpayers picked up the tab for about $6.2 billion worth of research, development and distribution of GLP-1s, the new class of blockbuster weight-loss drugs, according to an investigation by The Lever.

The “blockbuster drugs” generate annual sales exceeding $1 billion for Big Pharma.

Drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy and Zepbound — which belong to the glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) class of drugs — are “minting billions of dollars” for Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, the companies that make them.

Taxpayers fund the research. Pharma reaps massive profits. And Americans pay up to 11 times more for the drugs than people in other countries. The marked-up prices are inflating insurance premiums and risk bankrupting the country’s healthcare system, according to The Lever.

Researchers at Bentley University shared data with The Lever showing that between 1980 and 2024, the federal government spent $6.2 billion on the discovery and development of GLP-1 molecules, plus research on how to use those molecules to treat diabetes, obesity and other health conditions.

“You have to know a lot to develop a drug and to apply it in people,” Dr. Fred Ledley, professor of Natural and Applied Sciences at Bentley University in Waltham, Massachusetts, told The Lever. “What we call a ‘mature body of knowledge’ is not cheap.” Ledley provided the spending data to The Lever.

That research laid the foundation for the development of Ozempic and triggered a wave of similar drugs that spawned a massive market.

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Medical Surveillance Part 2: Tracking the Unvaccinated

Part 1 of “Medical Surveillance” revealed how contact tracing evolved into databases called real-time AI ecosystems. The data stored in these ecosystems ranges from medical records to genomic sequences that were largely collected using Covid-19 PCR tests. Health privacy laws were revised to enable an alarming amount of data sharing with public and private intelligence agencies for military operations. Using the Covid-19 scamdemic as a front, the military worked with so-called health authorities to weaponize Covid-19 statistics to target non-compliant or undesirable groups with mRNA vaccines, ventilators, and Remdesivir. In other words, it was a military operation that utilized covertly collected private medical and genetic data to deploy bioweapons. Targets were acquired using AI generated predictive behavior models provided by government intelligence agencies like Palantir. If that sounds disturbing to you, keep reading because that was just a warm-up.

The DELAYED REACTION THAT ENABLED THE ILLUSION OF THE PANDEMIC OF THE UNVACCINATED

As contact tracing phased into the background and the genome-collection method known as PCR testing was normalized, one more important piece of data needed to be collected: vaccination status.

The mockingbird media foreshadowed that vaccination status must be made public information because during a public health emergency everyone has a right to know their risk. Soon everyone would need to have a Covid-19 shot to travel, work, go to school, and participate in society. All this would inevitably lead to a vaccine passport. Yet there was no official way to track who was vaccinated in the healthcare industry.

The CDC and Medicare (CMS) announced new codes for tracking vaccination status that would go live on April 1st 2022. The update occurred exactly two years after the Covid-19 diagnosis code went live — on April fools’ Day. This time the emergency update was for the purposes of tracking vaccination status. It just wasn’t an emergency during the most aggressive portion of the vaccine campaign; the part where everyone had to get the shot in order for society to come out of lockdown and “go back to normal”. At any point during 2021, the CDC, CMS, or the AMA could have stopped the presses to do another emergency update to introduce a new code for vaccination status (or for adverse events, for that matter). They did not.

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Dr. David Weldon’s stance on the safety of MMR vaccines 25 years ago has led to a loss of support for his CDC nomination

Dr. David Weldon has withdrawn his bid to become director of the CDC.  He believes, as do many, that Big Pharma has influenced Senators so that it is unlikely that he would have garnered sufficient votes to confirm his appointment.

Why does Big Pharma not want Dr. Weldon in the CDC?  Because of the stance he took 25 years ago on the lack of safety of childhood vaccines.

Dr. David Weldon is an American politician and physician who served as a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Florida’s 15th congressional district.  In November 2024, Donald Trump nominated Weldon as the next director of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) but Trump withdrew the nomination in March 2025 due to concerns about Dr. Weldon’s anti-vaccine views and lack of support in the Senate.

Earlier today, Brownstone Institute published a statement from Dr. Weldon which explains why he withdrew his nomination.  Dr. Weldon believes that it is likely Big Pharma exerted pressure on Senators to withdraw support for his nomination based on events that happened decades earlier.   “My big sin was that as a congressman 25 years ago I had the temerity to take on the CDC and big Pharma on two critical childhood vaccine safety issues,” he said.

One of the safety issues related to a neurotoxic preservative called thimerosal, a mercury-containing organic compound, in childhood vaccines that was causing autism.  The second was the safety of the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine, or MMR vaccine.

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