These violations do more than financial damage to consumers and government health insurance programs. One of the worst violations involves companies promoting unproven, often dangerous uses for their medicines. Last year, Pfizer paid $1.2 billion for illegal off-label promotion -- the largest criminal fine in U.S.history. Other major corporate violators were GlaxoSmithKline, Eli Lilly, Schering-Plough, Bristol-Myers Squibb, AstraZeneca, TAP Pharmaceutical, Merck, Serono, Purdue, Allergan, Novartis, Cephalon, Johnson & Johnson, Forest Laboratories, Sanofi-aventis, Bayer, Mylan, Teva and King Pharmaceuticals.

The violations by these and other drug companies point to the wide range of impacts, including taking many lives of patients, which stems from these recurrent activities. These criminal or civil illegalities cover (1) overcharging government health programs, (2) unlawful promotion, (3) monopoly practices, (4) kickbacks, (5) concealing study findings, (6) poor manufacturing practices, (7) environmental violations, (8) financial violations and (9) illegal distribution.

Outside the purview of the Public Citizen study are the ravages of counterfeit drugs and poorly inspected ingredients in drugs, now mostly coming from China and India, due to the outsourcing by U.S. and European drug companies in their thirst for even greater profits.

Drug company sales are huge, growing from $40 billion in 1990 to $234 billion in 2008, and far exceeding inflation with their annual price gouging. To make matters worse, in 2003, the Congressional Republicans, with decisive support from some Democrats, passed the drug benefit bill which explicitly prohibited Uncle Sam, the payer, from bargaining for volume discounts with drug companies.

With over 400 full-time drug company lobbyists putting pressure on Congress, and tens of millions of dollars flowing into the legislators' campaign coffers, budgets for federal investigators, prosecutors and inspectors are kept to a minimum. Unfortunately, crime in the suites pays over and over again, despite occasional penalties.

En Australie, des Aborigènes en ont assez des mines d'uranium

Nous n'avons pas besoin d'industries d'extraction de ce minerai dans notre pays. Nous avons du soleil, du vent et des habitants. Pourquoi polluer notre environnement pour de l'argent ?

Nous ne voulons pas de ce produit arraché au sol, car nous refusons de léguer un environnement toxique en héritage aux générations futures.

'histoire de l'extraction d'uranium en Australie et son impact sur les peuples autochtones est déplorable. Les anciennes mines ont laissé les zones si dégradées que leurs propriétaires traditionnels sont aujourd'hui dans l'incapacité de les utiliser.

Tandis que des mines comme Ranger, située aussi dans le Territoire du Nord, n'ont pu être mises en activité qu'au prix de pressions répétées exercées sur la communauté aborigène locale.

Il existe une profonde préoccupation devant la dégradation inconsidérée des sites sacrés et l'insensibilité à la culture aborigène.

"We've found most pharmaceutical advertisers have been sitting on the sidelines and asking us not to pitch social media in our programs," said Michael Keriakos, co-founder and president of Waterfront Media, parent of health portal Everyday Health.

He estimates that packaged goods companies are spending about 10% of budgets on social marketing initiatives, while pharmaceutical companies may devote less than 2%. Chris Schroeder, CEO of competing health site HealthCentral, agreed.

"We've had several advertisers who have and are experimenting here, but most are still being very cautious --'most' meaning the legal departments," he said. "I've not see folks rush to it yet, even with this statement, but we've been viewed as a 'safe' group that really works with them."