Cheap stocks: They give you more for your money, but they're just as much a mixed bag of strong and poor companies as pricey picks. The price-to-earnings ratio has long been used to judge the general price of a stock, but is this polarizing statistic a good way to value big pharma's ostensibly cheapest stocks?

Using data compiled by stock screening site Finviz, here are the three cheapest major pharmaceutical stocks sorted by P/E. Motley Fool contributor Dan Carroll tells you what you need to know about these picks -- and whether their businesses and outlooks really are worth your money.