Frontline and Heartgard Maker Merial to Be Sold

Merck, which owns Merial, the maker of Frontline and Heartgard, says it is going to sell Merial to Sanofi-Aventis for $4 billion.

Merial, based in Duluth, Georgia., earned about $2.6 billion last year, and did $1 billion in sales of Frontline which protects dogs and cars against fleas and ticks.

Why did Merck sell Merial? Simple: Merck itself is being bought by Pfizer.

Want to know more about these companies? Here are a few headlines

• Pfizer Set to Pay U.S. Government $2.3 Billion in Fraud Settlement
  
  
• Merck to Pay $670 Million to U.S. Government to Settle Fraud Case
  
  
• Sanofi to Pay $190 Million to U.S. Governmetn Over Fraud Charges

Note, that these are frauds against Medicare and Medicaid alone. Additional recoveries have been made by private insurance companies trying to recover money stolen from them using similar schemes.

Think these big pharmaceutical companies are above defrauding U.S. consumers when it comes to veterinary medicines, where consumer laws are weak or non-existent, and where neither the U.S. Government nor private insurance companies limit kickbacks, price-gouging, billing for medically unnecessary services, and upcoding?

Don't be naive!
.