Last September, when Pfizer agreed to pay out a record $2.3 billion for illegally marketing the drug Bextra, the news made headlines around the world. But although the figure represents the largest criminal fine of its kind, it is in reality only part of a larger trend of big penalties paid by pharmaceutical companies.

The government had accused the company of promoting Bextra, a painkiller that was ultimately withdrawn from the market, for off-label uses. A 1962 US law bans companies from promoting approved drugs beyond their specific uses.

In a recent roundup of some of the biggest payouts related to illegal marketing, Bloomberg news stressed that many of these companies had pledged they would stop promoting drugs for unauthorized purposes. The following list captures some of the highest sums from the past five years:

Table 1
Full size table