In December 2010, Public Citizen, a nonprofit, nonpartisan citizens' advocacy group, released the results of a study that showed America’s pharmaceutical industry is now the biggest defrauder of the federal government.

Fines paid by drug manufacturers accounted for one-fourth of all federal collections under the False Claims Act over the past decade. The defense industry, which has long been notorious for its fraudulent practices, came in a distant second with 11% of collections.

Public Citizen stated that the pharmaceutical industry’s alleged FCA violations at both state and federal levels have increased dramatically since 2001.