A new and periodic feature from YOUR HEALTH focusing on the business of health care…

The business of health care is multifaceted, and incentives for doing good sometimes compete unfortunately with incentives for making money.  Health care giant Johnson & Johnson (J&J) agreed to pay recntly over $2 billion to settle various U.S government probes into the marketing of its Risperdal antipsychotic drug and other medications, according to Bloomberg reports. The probe, which was brought against J&J in 2010, claims that J&J misled doctors and patients about Risperdal’s health risks and effectiveness. The settlement will also include a whistleblower case in which J&J was accused of paying kickbacks to Omnicare, a nursing home pharmacy provider, in return for increased Risperdal prescriptions. The J&J settlement is the second –largest ever by a pharmaceutical company, behind Pfizer’s $2.3 billion 2009 settlement for the improper marketing of painkiller Bextra and other drugs.

While the negative publicity may have an impact on J&J’s reputation, it is still regarded as one of the most respected American corporations. According to the 2012 Harris Interactive RQ Survey, measuring corporate reputations across industries, J&J ranked 7^th, down from 2^nd where it scored in 2011 and 2010.  J&J reported worldwide pharmaceutical sales of $65 billion for calendar year of 2011.  What do you think?