by Jim Edwards
Brandweek December 12, 2005
The reason became evident after it was revealed that Rost had filed a whistleblower suit against Pfizer in 2003, alleging illegal sales of human growth hormone had gone unreported to authorities. Pfizer had refrained from firing Rost when the U.S. Department of Justice was investigating the company since firing a whistleblower tends to make that person’s employer look guilty. But once the DOJ backed off and distanced itself from Rost’s civil suit, Pfizer took the opportunity to oust Rost.But as the dust settles on Rost’s old desk at Pfizer, it appears that the world’s largest drug marketer’s troubles with the former growth hormone marketing chief could be far from over.With his court papers now unsealed, Rost claimed last week that he has twice testified to a federal grand jury about illegal marketing of Genotropin, the growth hormone that Pfizer obtained in its Pharmacia acquisition of 2003. Rost said he may have to testify a third time. He also told Brandweek that he was twice interrogated by the FBI about off-label Genotropin sales.Federal law singles out off-label growth hormone marketing as a criminal act punishable by five years in prison. Growth hormone drugs are approved only for a narrow set of conditions, such as deficient growth in children. But there is a huge black market in anti-aging and “miracle rejuvenation” treatments involving growth hormone, largely on the Internet.
In sum, the civil side of the case may be the least of Pfizer’s Rost-inspired worries if prosecutors are moving forward with a criminal investigation. Legal experts say that simply because the feds stepped back from pursuing a civil suit does not mean that the criminal probe will falter.
“A perfectly good case can be declined and is declined all the time, sometimes because the government does not have enough time to investigate,” said Kenneth Nolan of the Nolan Firm in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., a specialist in federal whistleblower cases.
The judge in the civil case ordered that copies of all Pfizer’s civil litigation in the matter be given to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Boston so that it can be kept abreast of developments in the case,
Aside from Rost’s claim, three other developments indicate that Pfizer may be a focus of negative attention:
Prosecutors declined to comment last week, as did Pfizer.
When Pfizer fired its vp-marketing for endocrinology products earlier this month, it earned some long-delayed good publicity for the move.The exec, Peter Rost, had publicly criticized Pfizer’s opposition to cheap drug imports from Canada for more than a year, while Pfizer kept mysteriously silent.
Kathleen Hawkins, RN MSN, had been employed by Defendant, Catholic Healthcare West (CHW) for approximately 6 years when she decided she had had enough of trying to change the hospital system from within.
CHW, a California not-for-profit corporation that operated hospitals in California, Arizona, and Nevada, was at the time the eighth largest hospital system in the nation and the largest not-for-profit hospital provider in California.
Joe Strom contacted us in 2005. We were very grateful that he did. We immediately formed an all-star legal team and a process to stop a very harmful pharmaceutical marketing strategy. It was this process we set into motion that ultimately returned hundreds of millions of dollars to the U.S. Treasury, and a portion of that, very well-deserved, into Joe’s bank account.
Joe told us a very troubling story about the off-label promotion of a pharmaceutical drug for patients who already suffered from chronic heart failure.
Bruce Moilan was a seasoned hospital systems expert by the time he contacted our Firm. At the time he decided to file his qui tam lawsuit, he was employed by South Texas Health System as a System Director for Materials Management. In this position, he oversaw $24 million in annual purchases of supplies and equipment and helped determine budget, reduction and cost analysis throughout the contract bidding and negotiations process. His job was to insure proper implementation for purchasing, receiving and management of inventory, for McAllen Hospitals, L.P.
