Pfizer Whistle-Blowing: The How and Why

Here's more detail on the case that led to Pfizer's (PFE) 2.3 billion dollar fine/settlement, courtesy of Bloomberg. Here's how things got started, apparently:

Pfizer Inc. sales folks had one tough customer in psychiatrist Stefan Kruszewski. He didn’t buy their pitch to prescribe the anti-psychotic drug Geodon to children, a use that hadn’t been approved by federal regulators.

Nor did he go for the so-called off-label uses they suggested, such as treating dementia in the elderly.

Kruszewski didn’t just say no. He went and checked the research and saw Geodon could have serious cardiac side effects not mentioned by the salesmen, who boasted of its relative safety, according to his lawyer, Brian Kenney. And he noticed that Pfizer was paying his peers to promote the drug to other psychiatrists.

But the worst for Pfizer was that Kruszewski didn’t keep it to himself. He found a lawyer, Kenney, who specializes in whistleblower cases, and they took what they had to the government.

So did John Kopchinski, who sold Pfizer’s arthritis drug Bextra but not as aggressively as the bosses wanted. They told the sales force to pitch it for post-surgical pain, acute pain, migraines and a host of other conditions for which the drug had been rejected by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, says Kopchinski’s lawyer, Erika Kelton.

The six whistleblowers in the case are getting anywhere from $2.3 million to $51 million now that the settlement has been announced (that upper figure is Kopchinski, who seems to have provided the most serious evidence). As I mentioned the other day, I think this is a good thing. It takes a lot of nerve to step up when your employer is doing something outside the limits of the law (and asking you to do it as well). A chance to make up for the certain loss of your job (and the near-certain loss of any future prospects in the field) goes a long way.

And there's an interesting perspective on why a settlement was reached:

. . .Pfizer is the pharmaceutical equivalent of insurance giant American International Group Inc. (AIG), which was too interwoven into the global economy to be allowed to fail. Likewise, if Pfizer were convicted of a crime, it would face debarment from federal programs. And that would mean that Medicaid and Medicare patients would have to either somehow pay pocket for vital medicines the company produces or go without.

Hadn't thought of that one. I wonder if any company will have the nerve to use this as a negotiating tactic? Perhaps Pfizer already did, come to think of it..

Comments

[notsosmart:]

thanks that we now have whistleblower laws.these crooked corps are one of the main reasons capitalism is in trouble.lying ceos,self serving boards,no ethics,complete disregard for the damage they do until caught,no transparency,accounting fraud,& no one gets fired for this behavior.in fact they get bonuses.this fine was not enough & the payout too small for the whistle blowers.sadly only the whistleblowers will protect you & i & your grandchildren.they should be made to print in easy to read size this fine on all of their products.no one should be able to jeopardize lives & health for the bottom line.its sad that we have so few whistleblowers.

Sep 06 01:44 PM

[realist goi...:]

Wake up People... Over 80% of medicines that Oncologists use are off label. Aspirin is not "indicated" for headache but everyone uses it for that. We teach our doctors to relieve all pain and suffering and then tie their hands with this "indication" BS. Give the doctors all the tools they need to heal us. All these duplicate and needless trials for indications (not safety or doing trials) are jacking up the cost of your medicines. If a medicine is indicated for pain of arthritis, then it eases pain, period. Stop blaming the "evil drug" companies and remember that YOUR mother may need and "off" label drug to have her win her battle against cancer. Unless of course you wanna make some quick cash in the process after you sue the doctor and the drug company after she passes

Sep 07 07:33 AM

[OneRichOne:]

GREED. Its the cause of the healthcare mess. Greed by the insurance industry, greed by hospitals, greed by drugmakers, greed by doctors and greed by lawyers. Go to your doctor and chances are he'll send you to another and another before anything gets done. They do this to spread the blame and make it difficult to sue. The whole system is crooked in one way or another. This includes our wonderful government, who wants to keep the whole thing going and let the taxpayers pay.

Sep 07 12:09 PM

[scv:]

who are the sharks that worked with John and who are the other 6 people who got money

Sep 12 07:40 PM