Google has forfeited $500 million as part of an agreement with the US Department of Justice for allowing online Canadian pharmacies to place ads which resulted in unlawful importation of prescription drugs into the US.
Google has agreed to forfeit $500 million for allowing online Canadian pharmacies to advertise prescription drugs, which resulted in unlawful importation of prescription drugs into the United States.
In a press release today the US Department of Justice said the forfeiture was one of the largest ever in the country and represented the gross revenue Google received through the advertisements as well as the gross revenue made by the Canadian pharmacies from their sales.
The statement, issued by Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole, US Attorney for the District of Rhode Island Peter F. Neronha and acting director of the US Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Criminal Investigations Katheleen Martin-Weis, said such shipment typically violated the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, and the Controlled Substances Act in the case of controlled prescription drugs.
It was almost always illegal to import prescription drugs into the US because they could not be regulated and may have been improperly manufactured, stored and distributed, it said.
The release said many Canadian pharmacies which shipped drugs to US residents were not subject to Canadian regulation and could be sourced from other countries which lacked adequate pharmacy regulations.
“The Department of Justice will continue to hold accountable companies who in their bid for profits violate federal law and put at risk the health and safety of American consumers,” Mr Cole said in the release.
Google on notice since 2003
The release said that an investigation by the US Attorney’s Office in Rhode Island and the FDA/OCI Rhode Island Task Force showed that Google was on notice that online Canadian pharmacies were advertising prescription drugs to Google users in the United States as early as 2003.
“Although Google took steps to block pharmacies in countries other than Canada from advertising in the US through AdWords, they continued to allow Canadian pharmacy advertisers to target consumers in the United States.”
The release said Google was aware that US consumers were purchasing prescription drugs online from these advertisers, and that many were distributing the drugs based on online consultations, often charging a premium for doing so, since people looking for prescription drugs without a prescription were willing to pay higher prices.
The release also said that from 2003 to 2009, Google provided customer support to some of these advertisers to “assist them in placing and optimizing their AdWords advertisements, and in improving the effectiveness of their websites.”
Google takes steps
Google became aware of the investigation in 2009 and took a number of steps to prevent the illegal sale of prescription drugs by online pharmacies to US consumers, including a requirement that online pharmacy advertisers be certified by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy’s Verified Internet Pharmacy Practices Sitesprogram, and retaining an independent company to enhance detection of advertisers exploiting flaws in its screening systems.
Under the terms of Google and the government’s agreement, Google acknowledged that it had improperly assisted Canadian online pharmacy advertisers to run advertisements that targeted the United States through AdWords and the company accepted responsibility for this, the release said. As well as the $500 million forfeit, the agreement included compliance and reporting measures that Google must take to insure that the conduct described in the agreement does not happen again.
Origins in Mexico
The release said the investigation originated in an unrelated financial fraud investigation, whose target fled to Mexico.
“While a fugitive, he began to advertise the unlawful sale of drugs through Google’s AdWords program. After being apprehended in Mexico and returned to the United States by the U.S. Secret Service, he began cooperating with law enforcement and provided information about his use of the AdWords program. During the ensuing investigation of Google, the government established a number of undercover websites for the purpose of advertising the unlawful sale of controlled and non-controlled substances through Google’s AdWords program.”
A Google spokesman told NBR in an email that the settlement had already received extensive coverage as a result of Google’s filing in May. In this filing, Google set aside $500 million to potentially resolve a case with the Justice Department, the Wall Street Journal reported.
“However, we’d like to make clear that while we banned the advertising of prescription drugs in the US by Canadian pharmacies some time ago, it’s obvious with hindsight that we shouldn’t have allowed these ads on Google in the first place, “ the Google spokesman said.
