Google has been forced to pay $500m in fines to the US Department of Justice, after taking ads from rogue online Canadian pharmacies in violation of federal law.
The forfeiture, one of the largest ever in the United States, represents the gross revenue received by Google as a result of Canadian pharmacies advertising through Google’s AdWords program, plus gross revenue made by Canadian pharmacies from their sales to US consumers.
The shipment of prescription drugs from pharmacies outside the US to customers in the US violates the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act and in the case of controlled prescription drugs , the Controlled Substances Act.
The FDA cannot ensure the safety and effectiveness of foreign prescription drugs because the drugs may not meet FDA’s labeling, manufacturing, storage and dispensary requirements
Google was aware as early as 2003, that generally, it was illegal for pharmacies to ship controlled and non-controlled prescription drugs into the United States from Canada.
Although Google took steps to block pharmacies in countries other than Canada from advertising in the U.S. through AdWords, they continued to allow Canadian pharmacy advertisers to target consumers in the United States.
Up to 2009, Google also provided customer support to some of these Canadian online pharmacy advertisers to assist them in placing and optimizing their AdWords advertisements, and in improving the effectiveness of their websites.
As a result of that investigation in 2009, Google took a number of steps to prevent the unlawful sale of prescription drugs by online pharmacies to US consumers. These included requiring advertisers to be certified, and using an independent company to enhance detection of pharmacy advertisers exploiting flaws in the Google’s screening systems.
“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”, said Deputy Attorney General Cole. “This settlement ensures that Google will reform its improper advertising practices with regard to these pharmacies while paying one of the largest financial forfeiture penalties in history”.
Under the terms of an agreement signed by Google and the government, Google acknowledges that it improperly assisted Canadian online pharmacy advertisers to run advertisements that targeted the United States through AdWords, and the company accepts responsibility for this conduct.
In addition to requiring Google to forfeit $500 million, the agreement also sets forth a number of compliance and reporting measures which must be taken by Google in order to insure that the conduct described in the agreement does not occur in the future.