AMGEN

Amgen is a leading biotechnology company based in California!

Our Mission and Values

Amgen strives to serve patients by transforming the promise of science and biotechnology into therapies that have the power to restore health or even save lives. In everything we do, we aim to fulfill our mission to serve patients. And every step of the way, we are guided by the values that define us.

Their CEO Robert Bradway salary is $7,124,964 with incentives and benefits estimated up to $21 million/yr!   They also have a very distinguished board of directors filled with many ex ceo's etc...

One last thing to mention, they also like to illegally market their drugs and own enough US Legislators to get a free $500,000,000 in taxpayers money from Congress in the "Fiscal cliff" bill!  

First off the story of their illegal marketing of their drugs:

 Amgen marketed its anemia drug Aranesp for unapproved uses even after the Food and Drug Administration explicitly ruled them out, federal prosecutors said on Tuesday.

The federal charges were made public as Amgen pleaded guilty to illegally marketing the drug and agreed to pay $762 million in criminal penalties and settlements of whistle-blower lawsuits. 

Amgen was “pursuing profits at the risk of patient safety,” Marshall L. Miller, acting United States attorney in Brooklyn, said in a telephone news briefing on Tuesday. 

David J. Scott, Amgen’s general counsel, entered the guilty plea at the United States District Court in Brooklyn to a single misdemeanor count of misbranding the drug, Aranesp, meaning selling it for uses not approved by the F.D.A. 

Amgen agreed to pay $136 million in criminal fines and forfeit $14 million, with about $612 million going to settle civil litigation.

Wrap your head around the fact that an $18 Billion dollar company just pled guilty and paid out 3/4 of a BILLION dollars, instead of continuing to fight this in court for years.   I am sure the people who died because of this are satisfied!

In court on Tuesday, prosecutors charged that Amgen had promoted the use of Aranesp to treat anemia in cancer patients who were not undergoing chemotherapy, even though the drug’s approval was only for patients receiving chemotherapy.

A subsequent study sponsored by Amgen showed that use of Aranesp by those nonchemotherapy cancer patients had actually increased the risk of death, and the off-label use diminished. 

The federal charges also say Amgen promoted using larger but less frequent injection of Aranesp than stated in the label as a way of making the drug more attractive to doctors and patients than Procrit, a rival anemia drug from Johnson & Johnson.

Luckily, Amgen did not have to absorb that big of heat very long, since their employees, (namely Mitch McConnell, Max Baucus and Orrin Hatch) who also happen to be in Congress, slipped a late night provision into the Fiscal Cliff Bill which will guarantee Amgen an extra $500 Million dollars over the next two years!

WASHINGTON — Just two weeks after pleading guilty in a major federal fraud case, Amgen, the world’s largest biotechnology firm, scored a largely unnoticed coup on Capitol Hill: Lawmakers inserted a paragraph into the “fiscal cliff” bill that did not mention the company by name but strongly favored one of its drugs.

The language buried in Section 632 of the law delays a set of Medicare price restraints on a class of drugs that includes Sensipar, a lucrative Amgen pill used by kidney dialysis patients. 

The provision gives Amgen an additional two years to sell Sensipar without government controls. The news was so welcome that the company’s chief executive quickly relayed it to investment analysts. But it is projected to cost Medicare up to $500 million over that period. 

Amgen, which has a small army of 74 lobbyists in the capital, was the only company to argue aggressively for the delay, according to several Congressional aides of both parties.

Easy to plead guilty, when you know the taxpayers will cover 2/3 of your penalty!  Luckily, despite the "tea party" members extreme silence,  we have Democrat Peter Welch (D-VT) who is trying to get our money back!

Welch introduced a bill on Wednesday that would restore the restraints. Reps. Richard Hanna (R-N.Y.), Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.) and Bruce Braley (D-Iowa) co-sponsored Welch's bill.

"Without scrutiny or debate, the American taxpayer was stuck with the $500 million tab. This special interest provision should have stood on its own merits with an up or down vote," Welch said. "It's no wonder cockroaches and root canals are more popular than Congress."

In terms of Wisconsin,  Self described deficit hawk Ron Johnson (R - Class Rings) has had exactly ZERO words to say about this taxpayer funded giveaway to Amgen!  You could express your dismay at a local town hall with Senator marry well, but he refuses to have those also.

Ironically, on the other side of the coin, the one person in Wisconsin who is beating the "lets stop this corporate welfare" drum is former Senator Russ Feingold!  

Former Sen. Russ Feingold's (D-Wis.) non-profit group, Progressives United, launched a petition Tuesday criticizing the pharmaceutical company Amgen for successfully lobbying to get a provision favoring one of its drugs, which could cost taxpayers up to $500 million, added to the "fiscal cliff" deal.

The petition calls for Amgen to give back the $500 million. "Thanks to more than 30,000 of your fellow progressives, our petition is taking off, even garnering national media attention to shine a bright spotlight on Amgen's overreach," wrote the group's executive director, Cole Leystra, in an email to supporters. "But Amgen still has an army of back-door lobbyists ready to quiet opposition and shell out targeted campaign contributions."

Action Steps:

* Sign Senator Feingold's Petition
*  tell Rep Peter Welch Thank you and you support him - @reppeterwelch / Phone: (202) 225-4115.
*  Call your local representative and tell them to sign onto Rep. Welch's bill!

Braley Calls For Investigation Into Walker's Hiring Practices

If the gentle reader recalls, on Thursday, Scott Walker did his best imitation of the ill-fated RMS Titanic by going full speed into hazardous waters while not equipped to do so. One of the congressional icebergs that caught Walker was Representative Bruce Braley (D-IA) who questioned Walker about the questionable hiring of Brian Deschane, the unqualified, two-time drunk driver, son of a wealthy lobbyist.

On the very same day that Walker was grilled about his practice of cronyism, Rep. Braley called for the Oversight and Government Reform Committee to do a full investigation into this:

Today, Congressman Bruce Braley (IA-01) called for a Congressional investigation of the hiring practices of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s administration. Rep. Braley, a member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, questioned Governor Walker on recent news reports that indicate Walker might have used his official, taxpayer-funded office to benefit campaign donors.

“I’d like to know, and I think the people of Wisconsin have a right to know, why Government Walker chose to hire a 27-year-old with no education and little experience aside from his father’s campaign contribution to Governor Walker’s campaign over two highly-qualified candidates for a well-paid administrative post,” said Rep. Braley. “If the Oversight and Government Reform Committee is truly focused on good government practices, we need to investigate answers to questions like this.”

The gentle reader can see a copy of Braley's letter to the Committee by clicking here.

RMS Scott Walker

On April 14, 1912, the RMS Titanic ran into an iceberg. In the early hours of the next day, the Titanic went below the waves forever, taking the lives of 1,517 people with it.  The real tragedy behind the Titanic's sinking is that the whole thing could have been utterly avoidable at so many junctures.

If they hadn't tried to cut corners, they might have used a better grade iron for the rivets. If the company wasn't trying to cut corners, they might have had enough lifeboats on the ship.  If it wasn't for their hubris, they might not have been going too fast or ignored the warnings from other ships that icebergs were in the area. The list goes on and on of things that could have been done differently, done smarter, which could have kept this from happening.

Instead, out of greed, corporate hubris and the overwhelming desire to cater to the upper (richer) passengers, the ship barreled ahead regardless of the dangers, and the completely unnecessary tragedy unfolded.

Ironically, on April 14, 2011, 99 years later, Scott Walker ran into the US Congress.The results to Walker's career and future political aspirations will not be known for a while, but it doesn't look that much better.

Like the fabled ship, RMS Walker went to sail with less that quality ideas, insufficient forethought, but enough hubris to fill ten Titanics.  The results of Walker's folly was utterly predictable and utterly preventable.  However, unlike the horrors of more than 1,500 people losing their lives, on this fateful ego trip, the only lost by Walker was whatever credibility he might have had, much less any chance at a national office.

Now, I admit I did not get to witness the repeated rectal reamings that Walker received, but I have seen some of the YouTube clips and read some of the stories.  So please forgive me if I don't lay them out in the chronological order of their occurrences, but here are some of the more exceptional moments of the day.  In each clip, pay close attention to Walker's expressions has his day just keeps getting worse and worse.

The first one is our own Congresswoman Gwen Moore who lays out the hypocrisy of Walker's claims of there being a fiscal crisis while he is giving money hand over fist to his buddies, the road builders, as well as some of his other lies regarding the budget, including pension plans:



Next up is Representative Bruce Braley (D-IA) who hammers Walker on the hiring of Brian Deschane, the 20-something year old with no college degree, little experience and two DWI who landed an $81,000 a year job due to his lobbyist daddy buying it for him:



Noteworthy from that clip is that Walker claimed that Deschane's hiring was "five steps below" him. Dan Bice of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is quick to point out that this isn't exactly true, since it was Walker's Chief of Staff that was involved in it, at Walker's bidding no doubt.

As fun as those were, they were just the warm ups. The third clip is Representative Gerry Connolly (D-VA) who had to repeatedly redirect Walker's evasive answers until Walker had to finally admit that he did not indeed mention attacking workers' rights during his campaign, contrary to his previous statements:



But it was Representative Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) who took away Walker's bag lunch and ate both of his ham and cheese sammiches in front of him, by cornering the elusive Walker into admitting that his union-busting bill doesn't do one darn thing for correcting the state budget, whatsoever:



The similarities between the Titanic doesn't end with the entirely avoidable collision and eventual sinking of both of these symbols of hubris.

After the sinking of the Titanic, there was an investigation into the cause. The surviving crew members testified, usually in order to point the finger at the deceased officers, or anywhere but themselves.  Likewise, after he was in an environment he controlled instead of the harsh reality of the world, Walker used both of his twitter accounts to blame the media and to blame Governor Jim Doyle or the bipartisanship of the legislature.

There is a huge difference between the Titanic and Walker which is relatively simple to see.

As mentioned above, when the Titanic went down, more than 1,500 people lost their lives.

However, if we don't get the floating piece of hubris known as Walker to go down, hundreds of thousands, if not millions, will suffer for it.