THE PETER ROST BLOG

Peter Rost, M.D., is a former Pfizer Marketing Vice President providing services as a marketing expert, speaker and writer. He is the author of Emergency Surgery, The Whistleblower and Killer Drug. You can reach him on rostpeter (insert symbol) hotmail.com. Please read the terms of use agreement and privacy policy for this blog carefully and note that even if this blog sometimes covers serious topics it is mostly closer to Saturday Night Live than 60 Minutes.

Sunday, May 20, 2007

AstraZeneca whistleblower: Mike Zubillaga's boss fired.

(First published 5/19, updated on 5/20) AstraZeneca National Sales Director, Scarlett Spring, has been fired by AstraZeneca, according to an AstraZeneca whistleblower.

The AZ whistleblower provided information over the past two months which led to Regional Sales Director Mike Zubillaga's termination, a Congressional Inquiry and an OIG investigation.

AstraZeneca disputes this assertion, but admits that Scarlett Spring has left the company. Emily Denney, an AstraZeneca spokeswoman said, "She is leaving for personal reasons, that's what I can tell you. This is personal. We have not dismissed her at all."

And Scarlett Spring today left a voicemail for her employees, saying, "It is my choice to leave AstraZeneca at this time. I'm taking some time for myself to ask the question 'what's next'."

Ms. Spring picked an interesting time to leave her executive position with an estimated $250,000 base salary, to ask herself "what's next."

And there's more. Effective immediatly, three new oncology trainers will start work at AstraZeneca headquarters in Wilmington, DE. This announcement came last week from Ty Duncan, Training Manager-Oncology.

The obvious question is, what happened to the trainers that created the now infamous "attack Femara" training tapes? Were they fired, demoted or transferred?

During a recent two-hour mandatory oncology training teleconference for the sales force, no mention was made that anything was wrong with the tapes, despite the fact that they ignited a Congressional Inquiry and OIG investigation.

Labels: AstraZeneca

3 Comments:

Swissinsider said...: If I had to bet my life on fired or left on her own, I'd bet she was fired. However as things go in big pharma she must have been paid off pretty well nad asked to say what she is saying. After all she will be back in the business after she "asks" those important questions and finds the answers. If she did otherwise, she would end up like our good doc, with no chance in living and working in the Bigpharmaland.
The reason she and maybe others not in the news, had to go is that the WB was externally not (only) internally.
When it is done only internally (and the good doc does not recommend that) things are handled the bigpharma way. The Whistle Blower usually gets the boot, correction are made so the misconduct can not be proven again, the protagonists are retrained some promoted and the "story" continues under much better cover, but still effective.
This type of scenario happened in the big Swiss one. After an internal WS: corrections, cover up,promotions to few key participants, one only "left" for he let it happen on his watch and the WB-er was gone. As far as we know the misconduct continues but no one is likely to prove it is, at least for now.; 5/19/2007
AstraZeneca said...: I'd like to see how big her McMansion is on CNBC. Betcha it's bigger than the Zubes....; 5/19/2007
Captnbutler said...: Scarlett Spring: "Boss, what should I do?"
A/Z Boss: "Scarlett, I DO give a damn. We ain't going to make the same mistake as Pfizer plantation did with that no good Peter, what's his name. Here is this nice package to look after you. When asked, You will say what we say you say."
And the wind continues to blow gently throughout the BigPharmaland for this land ain't be GONE WITH THE WIND.
NO END!; 5/20/2007

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THE PETER ROST BLOG

By Lee Howard, The Day, CT If Pfizer Inc. were to describe its worst nightmare, it might very well be seeing former company whistleblower Peter Rost become commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. So guess who is actively seeking the FDA's top post? Rost, a former Pfizer vice president who turned whistleblower after he alleged that a subsidiary of the company started promoting off-label uses of various drugs, not only is in the running for FDA commissioner, but he has at least two congressmen in his corner. This week, the Web site Pharmalot reported that U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, would be sending a letter of recommendation for Rost as well as several other candidates for the post. Rost also has picked up support from U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the Oversight and Investigations subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, who has been involved in many investigations of the FDA. ”I encourage you to seek meaningful reform of the FDA, which begins with a complete change in the FDA's leadership,” Stupak wrote in a letter to president-elect Obama endorsing Rost's candidacy. Rost said he is looking for a shakeup of the FDA, including a reorienting of the agency's priorities from serving the drug industry to helping American citizens. ”That means the agency would focus not only on the fastest and most efficient processing of new drug applications, but would also ensure that unsafe drugs are taken off the market or labeling (is) revised in a more timely manner,” Rost said in an interview this week with eDrugSearch. com, which endorsed his candidacy. Some of Rost's most controversial stances include his views on reimportation of drugs from Canada, which he approves, and his opposition to direct-to-consumer advertising. ”DTC advertising is not part of a 'free market' - it is part of manipulation of consumers who don't know better and doctors who give the patient whatever they ask for,” Rost said. Pfizer fired Rost in 2005 after it became known that the marketing executive's allegations about off-label promotion of drugs had led to a criminal investigation against the company. Rost went on to write a bestseller about his experiences, titled “The Whistleblower: Confessions of a Healthcare Hitman,” which detailed payouts to doctors, marketing drugs to children and various illegal and unethical activities he said he witnessed.