Investigator Exposes Pharma Corruption - Loses Job
CategoriesAn investigator with the Pennsylvania Office of the Inspector General was removed from his post and sent home after he talked to the press about his discovery of a black bank account fed by pharma companies Janssen and Pfizer and apparently used to pay off FDA officials in charge of approving drugs.
The story is reported in the British Medical Journal.
Whistleblower removed from job for talking to the press
Jeanne LenzerNew York (BMJ - original here)
A whistleblower who uncovered evidence that major drug companies sought to influence government officials has been removed from his job and placed on administrative leave.
Allen Jones, an investigator at the Pennsylvania Office of the Inspector General (OIG), was escorted out of his workplace on 28 April and told "not to appear on OIG property" after OIG officials accused him of talking to the press. Reports of Mr Jones's findings were widely reported in the New York Times, BMJ (7 February, p 306), and elsewhere.
His findings showed that the pharmaceutical company Janssen had paid honorariums to key state officials who held influence over the drugs prescribed in state-run prisons and mental hospitals.
Mr Jones filed a suit on 7 May against his supervisors charging that the OIG's policy of barring employees from talking to the media was "unconstitutional." Mr Jones claims, in the complaint filed in the Middle District Court of Pennsylvania, that he is being harassed by his superiors and Pennsylvania governmental institutions in order to "coverup, discourage, and limit any investigations or oversight into the corrupt practices of large drug companies and corrupt public officials who have acted with them."
Mr Jones had been earlier removed as lead investigator on the case after being told by a manager that "drug companies write cheques to politicians on both sides of the aisle."
In July 2002 Mr Jones was appointed lead investigator when he uncovered evidence of payments into an off-the-books account. The account, earmarked for "educational grants" was funded in large part by Pfizer and Janssen Pharmaceuticals. Payments were made from the account to state employees who developed formulary guidelines recommending expensive new drugs over older, cheaper drugs with proved track records.
One of the recommended drugs was Janssen's antipsychotic medicine risperidone (Risperdal)—a drug that has recently been found to have potentially lethal side effects. The Food and Drug Administration issued a warning letter to Janssen on 27 April saying that Janssen's "Dear Healthcare Provider" letter about risperidone was "false or misleading" because it failed to disclose or minimised risks of the drug relating to "serious adverse events including ketoacidosis, hyperosmolar coma, and death."
Don Bailey, Mr Jones's attorney, said the case is a critical test of the right to a free press. "If they shut the employee up and they have all the documents locked up in a drawer there is no free press," he said.
Amy Wasserleben, spokeswoman for the OIG, said they would not comment on Mr Jones or the corruption allegations. When asked about the status of the corruption investigation she refused to answer. In response to a question about whether the state OIG could withhold information of public interest, she said, "The OIG is specifically exempt from right-to-know laws."
The Pennsylvania formulary is based on the Texas Medication Algorithm Project that has been exported to about 12 states and was recently commended as a model programme by President Bush's New Freedom Commission.
However, Dr Peter J Weiden, who was a member of the project's expert consensus panel, charges that the guidelines are based on "opinions, not data" and that bias due to funding sources undermines the credibility of the guidelines since "most of the guideline's authors have received support from the pharmaceutical industry."
See also:A Lone Wolf Talks on the Drug Leviathan
An interview with Allen JonesEli Lilly, Zyprexa, & the Bush Family - The diseasing of our malaise
By Bruce Levine
More than one journalist has uncovered corrupt connections between the Bush Family, psychiatry, and Eli Lilly & Company, the giant pharmaceutical corporation. While previous Lillygates have been more colorful, Lilly’s soaking state Medicaid programs with Zyprexa—its blockbuster, antipsychotic drug—may pack the greatest financial wallop. Worldwide in 2003, Zyprexa grossed $4.28 billion, accounting for slightly more than one-third of Lilly’s total sales. In the United States in 2003, Zyprexa grossed $2.63 billion, 70 percent of that attributable to government agencies, mostly Medicaid.Huge penalty in drug fraud - Pfizer settles felony case in Neurontin off-label promotion
Why you can't trust medical journals anymore
The Pharmaceutical Business With desease: Eli Lilly, Zyprexa and the Bush Family
The Lancet: Negative drug research 'withheld'
FDA kept suicide findings secret
Pharmaceutical Companies Offer Doctors Free Trips, Gifts for Prescriptions
Norwegian doctors rally against increased commercialising and corruptionExtracts from the manifesto, which appeared in major newspapers in Norway
14 May 2004 (sent by Tamara of MayDay - thanks)250 Norwegian doctors have signed a manifesto calling for an end to improper influence on patient and society from the medical industry. Their action has been inspired by what they see as an increased corruption and secrecy in the health field that influence the decision process, influencing many but controlled by few.
They state that the doctor's role in society is based on confidence; that the doctor handles the knowledge and resources on the basis of his/her best understanding and available knowledge.
Here is a comment from Ireland:
(19 May 2004)Funnily enough there was a very hard-hitting documentary on RTE (Irish television) last night, highlighting the extent to which doctors are influenced by gifts, golfing trips, trips to see high profile rugby and soccer matches, and sent to "conferences" abroad by pharmaceutical companies. Apparently most pharmaceutical companies are now little more than giant marketing companies - they concentrate much more on trying to influence doctors, than R & D.
We all know this of course, but it refreshing to see a national TV station take up this issue.See also more recent articles:
Bush To Impose Psychiatric Drug Regime
Kruszewski: Fired 'For Digging Up Dirt' Psychiatrist Sues Employers, Pharma Companies
Bush-Backed Drug Marketing Schemes
Whistleblowers Reveal Over-Medicating For Profit Scam
In Pennsylvania, Whistleblower, Dr Kruszewski, discovered cases where adults and children in state care were prescribed as many as 5 psychiatric drugs at the same time. When he went to his superiors to report the over-prescribing and warned of the potential liability to the state if it was allowed to continue, he was told "it is none of your business." According to Dr Kruszewski, it was polypharmacy at its worst. "They were putting almost all the patients on the same concoction of antipsychotic and antiseizure drugs," he reports. But the discovery he found most disturbing was that many of the patients taking the drugs had never had seizures and had never been psychotic.
posted by Sepp Hasslberger on Saturday May 15 2004
updated on Tuesday July 29 2008URL of this article:
http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp/2004/05/15/investigator_exposes_pharma_corruption_loses_job.htm
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