Corporate crime in the pharmaceutical industry

The fragmented hierarchy of a large international drug company, with separate management structures in marketing, research, and administration, make the identification of fraud or misconduct extremely difficult.

Making prescription drugs is big business. In 1974 the world drugs market was worth $12 billion a year, in 1994 it is close to $300 billion. Stock market capitalization of the drugs industry had doubled in the decade to 1994, and earnings have been growing at a rate of 15 to 20 percent a year.

The global pharmaceutical industry (2025) employs over 5 million people across R&D, manufacturing, sales, regulatory, and distribution. In the U.S. alone, roughly 1.3–1.5 million people work directly in pharma and biotech, with several million more in health insurance, hospitals, and medical device companies — all parts of the wider medical-industrial complex.