. >> reporter: in march, ethex, a subsidiary of k.v.pharmaceuticals, pled guilty to charges it failed to tell the f.d.a. the company had mistakenly made morphine tablets executive not convicted of a crime to be effectively kicked out of the industry. at the h.h.s. office of inspector general, greg demske says this case sends an important message. >> the message is: if you are a corporate executive at a company that does business with federal health care programs, including pharmaceutical and device manufacturers, one of the things that you should consider in addition to profits is that-- if you take an action that could cause harm to patients or cost the taxpayers money-- then your career, your livelihood in that industry is at risk as well. >> reporter: in other words, you'll be kicked out. >> could be, yes. >> reporter: and so you'll go after companies, no matter what size they are? >> we look at a series of things. was the person aware of the conduct that was taking place in the corporation? what was that person's position and author