PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Google says in a statement that the company shouldn’t have allowed Canadian pharmacies to advertise prescription drugs to U.S. consumers.
The Internet search leader agreed to pay $500 million to settle a federal investigation the distribution of online ads from pharmacies that were illegally selling prescription and non-prescription drugs to American consumers.
U.S. Attorney Peter Neronha (nuh-ROH’-nuh) in Rhode Island disclosed the agreement on Wednesday. The settlement means Google will not face criminal prosecution for accusations it improperly profited from ads promoting “rogue” Canadian pharmacies that illegally imported drugs into the United States.
Rhode Island has aggressively pursued doping investigations in recent years.
