U.S. government asks Schering-Plough employees to blow the whistle.

I was recently contacted by certain government employees in Washington D.C. . . . they were looking for advice on sources inside Schering-Plough who can help them with their ongoing investigations of the Enhance trial and allegations of insider trading.

It was made clear to me that the U.S. government would consider it very helpful if sources inside Schering-Plough came forward and helped guide them in their investigation.

Over the past months both Schering-Plough and Merck have received various request for documents related to unusual trading activity of SGP shares in 2007 by Schering-Plough management, the fact that results about the ENHANCE trial were available on CafePharma already in March 2007, which led to questions about when the companies knew about the negative ENHANCE trial results, and why the companies, before unblinding, tried to change primary endpoints.

The companies have responded to these requests, and I have also been told that Schering-Plough has hired one of the law firms that used to assist the tobacco industry during their litigation. It is my personal impression that some government agencies are concerned about this, because the tobacco industry "used the attorney-client privilege to shelter scientific studies from disclosure."

I'd like to stress that no one is looking for any attorney-client information, and that I have not received an official request to look for sources, however, it is equally clear to me that some investigators would welcome hearing from Schering-Plough employees who could assist them with non-privileged information during their investigations.

If you are a Schering-Plough employee, and you have information related to recent government inquiries you should know that the government would welcome hearing from you. If you would like assistance in reaching the right people, please contact me on rostpeter-"insert at"-hotmail-dot-com.

Your name and information will be kept confidential:

1. I will not write about such contacts and information.
2. I will act as an intermediary and forward your information if you don't want the investigators to know your name.
3. If you don't want me to know you're name, I'll be happy to simply forward an anymous e-mail, once it has been verified that you have actual information.

Please note that anyone can eventually be forced to reveal an identity of someone they know, based upon a valid court order. The only way an identity can't be revealed is if the person getting the information doesn't know the name. Journalists have traditionally refused to reveal such information, and a New York Times reporter went to jail because she refused to reveal a source. Other journalists have cooperated with authorites.

The only way to permanently ensure that your identity is protected is to shield your identity from anyone you give information. To do so you may want to open a free "anonymous email account" over at AnonymousEmail or AnonymousSpeech, which will also protect your IP address.

Peter Rost