Pharma-Leaks

Our mission is to shed light on the stories behind the industry, helping audiences better understand how pharmaceuticals operate and impact everyday life.

[Pharma-Leaks @PharmaLeaksX]

The DOJ launched a new National Fraud Enforcement Division after unveiling more than $500M in alleged healthcare and COVID fraud schemes.

The cases expose how taxpayer-funded healthcare programs can be exploited through fraudulent enrolments, billing schemes, and reimbursement abuse.

As healthcare spending rises, so do questions about who is really benefiting from the system.

Read more here: https://t.co/TcI7HLhYFh

[Pharma-Leaks @PharmaLeaksX]

For years, Pfizer $PFE dominated the ATTR-CM market with tafamidis, a treatment carrying a list price of roughly $268,000 annually.

Now competitors including BridgeBio $BBIO and Alnylam $ALNY have entered the space, raising a bigger question: will patients benefit from competition, or will PBM rebate arrangements continue to shape access behind the scenes?

As Washington intensifies scrutiny of PBMs, the debate is no longer just about drug prices - it's about whether new therapies can compete on a level playing field.

Worth reading: https://t.co/02zVeb3Pa2.

[Pharma-Leaks @PharmaLeaksX]

Pharmacy Benefit Managers were supposed to help lower drug prices.

Critics increasingly argue they became part of the problem.

From insulin pricing controversies to allegations tied to the EpiPen scandal, scrutiny has grown around whether rebate driven incentives reward higher prices, reduced competition, and opaque dealmaking across the healthcare system.

Our latest PharmaLeaks piece looks at the business model behind the PBM controversy.

Read more: https://t.co/WsI0SYnrUz

#BigPharma

[Pharma-Leaks @PharmaLeaksX]

A BMJ investigation found that pharmaceutical companies paid an estimated £156.9 million to NHS trusts in England between 2015 and 2022, yet many of the payments reportedly lacked clear public explanations.

The issue wasn't necessarily that payments existed - it was that patients often couldn't determine why the money was paid, how it was used, or whether it created conflicts of interest.

Transparency only works when the public can follow the money.

Read more here: https://t.co/WsI0SYnrUz

#PharmaLeaks #BigPharma #HealthcareTransparency

[Pharma-Leaks @PharmaLeaksX]

A growing group of women in the UK sued Pfizer $PFE over allegations linking the contraceptive injection Depo-Provera to brain tumours.

The lawsuits followed increasing scrutiny of the drug internationally, including in the U.S., where the FDA approved updated warnings about a potential tumour risk in late 2025.

Our latest PfizerFiles piece examines the legal battle, the regulatory response, and why questions around drug safety disclosures gained momentum on both sides of the Atlantic.

Read the full story: https://t.co/WsI0SYnrUz

[Pharma-Leaks @PharmaLeaksX]

Americans pay the highest drug prices in the world.

Critics say Big Pharma has spent decades leveraging patents, lobbying, research control, and pricing power to maximize profits while patients struggle to afford lifesaving medicines.

How did the healthcare system get here?

New PharmaLeaks piece: https://t.co/WsI0SYnrUz

$GSK $MRK

[Pharma-Leaks @PharmaLeaksX]

As Pfizer $PFE chases the next generation of obesity treatments, investors are celebrating the opportunity.

Patients and regulators may be asking a different question: what happens when one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies sets out to control another multi-billion-dollar market?

#PfizerFiles

[Bloomberg @business]

Pfizer is pulling back the curtain on its obesity ambitions, releasing new data on an experimental weight-loss shot and outlining a strategy to claw its way into a leadership position in the competitive market dominated by those with first-mover advantages. Read more: https://t.co/oraLjnBEc6

📷️: iStockphoto/Getty Images

[Pharma-Leaks @PharmaLeaksX]

The latest entry in the Pfizer Files looks at Pfizer's long history of anti-competitive controversies.

From a $2.3 billion off-label marketing settlement to recurring questions around competition, physician influence, and market control, the story is bigger than any single drug.

$PFE

Read more here: https://t.co/WsI0SYnrUz

[Pharma-Leaks @PharmaLeaksX]

Johnson & Johnson $JNJ recently scored an early courtroom win against Bayer $BAYN in a billion-dollar battle over competing prostate cancer drugs.

Bayer accused J&J of misleading doctors and patients with claims that Erleada cuts the risk of death by 51% compared with Bayer's rival treatment, Nubeqa.

A federal judge wasn't convinced.

The fight over scientific evidence, drug marketing, and market share is far from over.

Read more: https://t.co/WsI0SYnrUz

[Pharma-Leaks @PharmaLeaksX]

$GSK allegedly tried to silence a scientist who warned that Avandia increased the risk of heart attacks.

Years later, the concerns were confirmed.

In 2012, GlaxoSmithKline paid $3 BILLION to resolve allegations tied to Avandia safety failures, off-label marketing, and fraud — one of the largest healthcare settlements in U.S. history.

Profits first. Patients second.

Read more here: https://t.co/WsI0SYnrUz

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Can YOU help Pharma Leaks?

Multiple leads point towards Pfizer’s $PFE marketing of tafamidis, particularly the company’s relationships with senior clinicians.

What’s being said behind the scenes? Who is influencing what, and where are the connections? What do you know?

Looking for tips, background information, funding links, or anything else that may help connect the dots.

Send information to: [email protected].

[Pharma-Leaks @PharmaLeaksX]

Whistleblower. Regulator. Pharmaceutical giant.

A Roche $RHHBY employee who raised compliance concerns was later awarded compensation by an Irish tribunal.

The full PharmaLeaks story: https://t.co/ydEECC1Sll

[Pharma-Leaks @PharmaLeaksX]

The latest entry in the Pfizer Files here.

We examine Pfizer’s $PFE long history of anti-competitive controversies, from off-label marketing settlements and whistleblower lawsuits to questions around physician influence, market dominance, and how pharmaceutical companies shape the perception of competition itself.

Read more here: https://t.co/WsI0SYnrUz

[Pharma-Leaks @PharmaLeaksX]

A German pharmacist was jailed in 2018 after authorities uncovered one of Europe’s biggest cancer drug scandals.

Thousands of chemotherapy treatments were allegedly diluted while patients and insurers were charged full price.

The case exposed how weak oversight and profit incentives can put vulnerable patients at risk, even inside trusted healthcare systems.

Read more: https://t.co/WsI0SYnrUz

[Pharma-Leaks @PharmaLeaksX]

In 2020, Novartis $NVS and former subsidiary Alcon paid $345M to resolve FCPA related matters tied to alleged improper payments to healthcare professionals.

The case highlights a recurring problem across pharma: when sales targets, sponsorships, and financial incentives intersect with prescribing decisions, patient trust is put at risk.

Our latest PharmaLeaks analysis examines the wider lessons for the industry: https://t.co/WsI0SYnrUz

[Pharma-Leaks @PharmaLeaksX]

Great news. But the bigger question is whether patients will fully benefit from future breakthroughs in a healthcare system increasingly shaped by pricing power, market concentration, and barriers to access.

Scientific progress matters. So does ensuring its benefits reach everyone who needs them.

[The Economist @TheEconomist]

The complexity of cancer, with its bewildering variety of forms, makes devising treatments difficult. But progress is being made https://t.co/cd62YUzZR4

[Pharma-Leaks @PharmaLeaksX]

Our next Pfizer Files article is here.

In 2012, a U.S. appeals court upheld a $2.3 million verdict against $PFE in favor of former Pfizer scientist and whistleblower Becky McClain.

McClain alleged she suffered permanent health complications after raising concerns about unsafe laboratory conditions and exposure risks at a Pfizer research facility beginning in 2002. She later claimed the company retaliated against her after she reported the safety issues internally.

Read more about the case here: https://t.co/WsI0SYnZK7

[Pharma-Leaks @PharmaLeaksX]

Theranos promised to revolutionize healthcare with blood tests from a single finger prick.

At its peak, the company was worth $9 billion. But whistleblowers, regulators, and investigative journalists ultimately revealed that much of the technology behind the claims did not work as advertised.

The scandal remains a reminder that in healthcare, hype is not a substitute for evidence.

Read more: https://t.co/WsI0SYnrUz

[Pharma-Leaks @PharmaLeaksX]

In 2024, the DOJ indicted 10 pharmaceutical distributor executives, brokers, and sales reps tied to the alleged unlawful distribution of nearly 70 million opioid pills.

Prosecutors say the drugs were funneled into Houston pill mill pharmacies using a “blueprint” designed to avoid DEA scrutiny while generating billions in black market value.

The opioid crisis wasn’t just manufacturers.

It was an entire supply chain.

Read more here: https://t.co/WsI0SYnZK7