Civil settlements with Pfizer and Wyeth, which Pfizer acquired in 2009, amount to a $45 million disgorgement of profits. Pfizer agreed to pay more than $26.3 million while Wyeth agreed to $18.8 million. The government claimed Pfizer made a range of improper payments to officials — including hospital administrators, members of regulatory committees and healthcare professionals — in Bulgaria, Croatia, Kazakhstan and Russia to influence Pfizer product approval and sales.
Pfizer H.C.P. Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pfizer, also agreed to pay $15 million in penalties. The subsidiary admitted that between 1997 and 2006, it paid more than $2 million in bribes to government officials in Bulgaria, Croatia, Kazakhstan and Russia. Pfizer H.C.P. also admitted that it made more than $7 million in profits as a result of those bribes.
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