Pfizer has been very successful in obtaining FDA approval for the COVID-19 vaccine. The FDA stamp for approval is a crucial step in getting drugs to market. The FDA can be critical if a pharmaceutical company promotes a drug it hasn’t approved.
Pfizer was sued for civil and criminal liability in 2009 over the illegal promotion of drugs. It was the largest healthcare fraud settlement ever.
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), a healthcare giant, agreed to pay $ 3 billion in criminal and civil prosecutions for unlawfully promoting drugs like Wellbutrin. These drugs were used for purposes that weren’t FDA approved. Pfizer has the record for the most significant criminal penalty in history.
Which industries pay the most significant fines
Diggity Marketing reports that financial services have been responsible for the most significant number of fines.
By February 2021, banks and payment service providers had been fined $331,558,339.161 in more than 6,000 cases.
The pharmaceutical sector was second, with 944 fines exceeding $56 Billion. The oil and gas industry came in third with around $45 Billion.
Bank of America is the largest company ever to have paid more fines. JPMorgan Chase, however, came in second. They both paid more than $35B in fines.
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How much did TEPCO pay for fines, retribution, and other costs?
TEPCO (a Tokyo-based electric utility company) was hit with multiple civil lawsuits after the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster in 2011. The total amount of these civil suits was approximately 11 trillion yen. The lawsuits were based on the conclusion that the energy giant was unprepared for the tsunami. TEPCO was ordered by Tokyo’s court to pay $10 million in damages. In addition, TEPCO had to pay Y=1,000,000Yen to all families within 30 km of its nuclear powerplant. There are many lawsuits against TEPCO from cleanup crews and residents who were affected, some of them with cancer. Add to that one of the highest fines ever imposed.
These costs could easily exceed $143 billion dollars. Four executives were also held responsible for the July 2022 incident and ordered to compensate USD 90 Billion (Y=13 Trillion yen).
TEPCO: $450bn
Fukushima’s nuclear accident in 2011 caused widespread criticism.
Japan’s parliament launched an independent investigation into Fukushima and found it was “a profoundly human-made disaster.” The investigation blamed the energy company, which failed to comply with safety requirements or plan for such an accident.
In 2019, a Japanese court cleared three Tepco executives of negligence in their only criminal case.
The company received compensation claims from the tens to thousands of people affected by radiation leakage, totaling 5 trillion Yuen.
Deepwater Horizon
Deepwater Horizon was a tragic accident that claimed many lives and caused severe damage to companies. The result was that the company was sued many times. By 2013, the corporation had already paid the victims at least $13 million in compensation.
The company was the victim of civil lawsuits after it submitted a guilty plea for criminal and negligence charges.
According to estimates, Deepwater Horizon’s total civil and criminal fines amount to at least 47 billion. But the exact amount is still uncertain. Given the many ongoing civil litigations (related and unrelated) in various courts worldwide, the number could be significantly higher.
British Petroleum – $64bn
BP has accepted a $4.5B record criminal fine. But it doesn’t end there. BP will also need to pay billions in civil penalties. This includes a $525m penalty for the Securities and Exchange Commission. This is not a final settlement for the ongoing lawsuits against BP. However, this is a big step forward for the giant oil company and the planet.
After pleading guilty in 14 cases related to the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster, BP will pay a record-breaking criminal fine. It has admitted to violating fundamental environmental laws that caused the oil spillage, which resulted in the deaths of 11 people. The company also admitted lying in Congress about how much oil was being pumped through the well. BP will also receive corporate probation for five additional years. The company may appeal the fine, but that is not a good idea.
INDUSTRIES THAT PAID THE LARGEST FINE
Diggity Marketing reveals that the most significant fines in recent years have been levied against the financial service industries.
By February 2021, the fines against the payment providers division had risen to around 330 billion US dollars with over 6,000 total.
The pharmaceutical corporation was in second place with approximately 940 penalties totaling about 56 billion dollars. However, the oil-and-gas industries ranked third with approximately 45 billion dollars in fines.
Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase are the two top companies that have paid the highest fines. JPMorgan spent around 35 billion dollars on fines.
Which Industries Pay Largest Fines
Diggity Marketing found that financial services were the most subject to fines.
By February 2021, the industry, including banks and payment service providers, had accumulated fines totaling $331.558,339.161, covering over 6,000 offenses.
With just over $56 billion in fines to the pharmaceutical industry (which came in second) and $45 billion to the oil-and-gas sector (which came in third).
Bank of America led the list of firms that have paid the most significant penalty amounts, followed by JPMorgan Chase, which paid more than $35 Billion in penalties.