Google has agreed to pay $500 million in order to settle a legal argument with the U.S. government. This comes over allegations that Google allowed online Canadian pharmacies in use its AdWords system to advertise prescription drugs to U.S. consumers, resulting in illegal importation of the medicines into the U.S.
“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 U.S. consumers,” said the U.S. Department of Justice in a statement.
The DOJ contends that Google was aware of illegal prescription drug shipments, primarily from Canada, as a result of their ads as early as 2003. However, they contend that Google didn’t modify its practices until it was being investigated by the U.S. government in 2009.
“While Canada has its own regulatory rules for prescription drugs, Canadian pharmacies that ship prescription drugs to U.S. residents are not subject to Canadian regulatory authority, and many sell drugs obtained from countries other than Canada which lack adequate pharmacy regulations,” the DOJ statement reads.
Google asserts they stopped selling Canadian pharmacies ad space a while ago, but added, “However, it’s obvious with hindsight that we shouldn’t have allowed these ads on Google in the first place. Given the extensive coverage this settlement has already received, we won’t be commenting further.”
Google admits improperly assisting Canadian online pharmacy advertisers as part of the settlement. They will also agree to various reporting and compliance measures to ensure that these activities don’t happen again.
Source: PC World
