Wednesday, April 30, 2008

EXPERT WITNESS: PHARMA, DRUG & HEALTHCARE LITIGATION

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DR. ROST ON FOX NEWS: DISCUSSING VYTORIN ON "MONEY FOR BREAKFAST"




CLIENT LIST

• SPEECHES (not complete list): National Venture Capital Association, U.S. Senate, Governor of Indiana, Governor of Montana, Maryland Senate, Vermont Senate, New York City Council, Southern Medical Association, ESOMAR, NC Pharmacy Association, The Prescription Access Litigation Project, Minnesota Senior Federation, Danske Bank, Sveriges Riksdag, Sveriges Radio Sommar, Svenska Nyhetsbrev AB, Entreprenörsdagen, Stockholms Läns Landsting, Läkemedelskommittén i Jämtlands län, Gräv 08-Undersökande Journalister, Västsvenska Industri- och Handelskammaren, Sveriges Läkarsällskap, Svenska Neurologföreningen, Hjärntrusten Management AB.

• WRITING: The New York Times, Brandweek, Los Angeles Times, NJ Star-Ledger, NJ Voices, Realtid, Läkemedelsvärlden

• LEGAL CONSULTING: Client list available upon request.


BIOGRAPHY AND CV

Click on Dr. Peter Rost CV (left) to view full size.

Peter Rost, M.D. is a former Vice President, Marketing for the drug company Pfizer.

Prior to his work for Pfizer, Dr. Rost was a Vice President, Marketing and Managing Director for Wyeth, responsible for the Nordic region in Europe.

Dr. Rost has been featured on numerous radio and television broadcasts, among them “60 Minutes,” and in hundreds of newspaper articles, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and Fortune.

Dr. Rost is also the author of one fiction and three non-fiction books, among them “Killer Drug, “The Whistleblower—Confessions of a Healthcare Hitman,” and “Emergency Surgery.”

He has written op-eds for the New York Times, Los Angeles Times and dozens of other major newspapers and is also a writer for Brandweek, Realtid and Läkemedelsvärlden.

Dr. Rost has also testified before the U.S. Senate, as well as many state congresses and conducted several press conferences with U.S. Senators, Members of U.S. Congress, and State Governors. He has also been key note speaker for many industry and political organizations.

Recent news on Dr. Rost available from Google News.


CONTACT

Dr. Rost e-mail


SERVICES

Dr. Rost is available to review both Plaintiff cases.

Dr. Rost has experience in class action, product liability, false claims/qui tam & criminal cases. He is available for general litigation support, medical and marketing record review, depositions, expert reports and trial testimony.

Areas in which Dr. Rost performs expert witness testimony: Pharmaceutical Marketing, Drug Product Liability, Drug Marketing and Promotion, Drug Sales.

Example of products: Accutane, Acetaminophen, Ambien, Aredia, Avandia, Baycol, Benzene, Beryllium, Bextra, Celebrex, Celexa, Cialis, Crestor, Darvon, Darvocet, Depo-Provera, Diclofenac, Drug-Coated, Stents, Duragesic, Patch, Effexor, Ephedra, Evista, Fluvoxamine, Fosamax, Gleevec, Guidant, Defibrillator, /, Pacemaker, Ketek, Levitra, Lexapro, Medtronic, Defibrillator, Meridia, Mirapex, Neurontin, Ortho Evra, Paxil, Pergolide (Permax), Prempro, Promethazine, HCl, Prozac, ReNu, with, MoistureLoc, Risperdal, Seroquel, Serzone, Symbyax, Tamiflu, Teflon, Tequin, Trasylol, Triaminic, Vapor, Viagra, Vioxx, Vytorin, Zelnorm, Zetia, Zocor, Zoloft, Zometa, Zyprexa.


MEDIA



Dr. Rost on Leonard Lopate Show, New York Public Radio. Streaming audio here.
Dr. Rost on 60 Minutes, "Insider's Rx For Drug Costs." Streaming video here.
Dr. Rost on ABC/Safran download here.
Dr. Rost on Barry Gordon/From left field download here.

Dr. Rost on CNN:



Dr. Rost on FOX News:


Dr. Rost on Capitol Hill:


Dr. Rost and Maria Bartiromo:


PHARMACEUTICAL EXECUTIVE
Click on images to read.






















BRANDWEEK
Click on images to read.




FORTUNE
Click on images to read.



Click on images to read:





DR. ROST TOPS GOOGLE SEARCHES FOR PHARMA LITIGATION


Search for pharmaceutical litigation consultant:


Search for pharmaceutical marketing witness:


Search for pharmaceutical marketing expert:


Search for pharmaceutical witness:


Search for pharmaceutical expert witness:

Top drugs by number of U.S. prescriptions:

Dr. Rost is available as an expert witness in pharma, drug & healthcare litigation related to the following drugs: Paxil, Lexapro, Hydrocodone, Xanax, Tramadol, Vicodin, Lyrica, Oxycodone, Lisinopril, Cymbalta, Lipitor, Percocet, Zoloft, Metformin, Effexor, Ambien, Prednisone, Atenolol, Wellbutrin, Morphine, Naproxen, Phentermine, Tylenol, Aspirin, Norvasc, Toprol, Darvocet, Nexium, Soma, Diovan, Seroquel, Albuterol, Neurontin, Adderall, Protonix, Ultram, Zocor, Ativan, Metoprolol, Levaquin, Valium, Viagra, Prozac, Alprazolam, Cipro, Oxycontin, Gabapentin, Lortab, Clonazepam, Celexa, Synthroid, Plavix, Cyclobenzaprine, Prevacid, Celebrex, Vytorin, Lasix, Lorazepam, Amoxicillin, Trazodone, Zyrtec, Klonopin, Depakote, Clonidine, Codeine, Lamictal, Methadone, Flexeril, Topamax, Diclofenac, Promethazine, Mobic, Doxycycline, Augmentin, Cephalexin, Bactrim, Hydrochlorothiazide, Advair, Ibuprofen, Omeprazole, Furosemide, Zetia, Diazepam, Fentanyl, Risperdal, Abilify, Skelaxin, Elavil, Amitriptyline, Coumadin, Flomax, Prilosec, Allegra, Clindamycin, Insulin, Lunesta, Fosamax, Zyprexa, Citalopram, Ranitidine, Fluoxetine, Hydroxyzine, Actos, Metronidazole, Altace, Crestor, Coreg, Digoxin, Phenergan, Benicar, Verapamil, Acetaminophen, Lithium, Zithromax, Dilantin, Tricor, Lotrel, Potassium, Norco, Keflex, Flagyl, Avandia, Ritalin, Ciprofloxacin, Inderal, Trazadone, Biaxin, Singulair, Aciphex, Enalapril, Zantac, Ultracet, Tamiflu, Diltiazem, Warfarin, Baclofen, Lidocaine, Lovastatin, Carisoprodol, Provigil, Ortho Evra, Medrol, Penicillin, Benadryl, Reglan, Remeron, Propoxyphene, Concerta, Cozaar, Hctz, Premarin, Levothyroxine, Methotrexate, Buspar, Glucophage, Glyburide, Paroxetine, Avelox, Valtrex, Calcium, Allopurinol, Avapro, Erythromycin, Dilaudid, Aricept, Claritin, Imitrex, Simvastatin, Estradiol, Triamcinolone, Namenda, Meclizine, Lopressor, Glipizide, Cialis, Acyclovir, Azithromycin, Actonel, Etodolac, Robaxin, Lovenox, Trileptal, Atarax, Geodon, Propranolol, Temazepam, Zofran, Bupropion, Naprosyn, Detrol, Flonase, Voltaren, Cardizem, Amiodarone, Diflucan, Isosorbide, Byetta, Zanaflex, Heparin, Nabumetone, Nystatin, Toradol, Loratadine, Levoxyl, Magnesium, Demerol, Vancomycin, Motrin, Tegretol, Requip, Pravachol, Evista, Boniva, Haldol, Nifedipine, Keppra, Metoclopramide, Spironolactone, Lantus, Methocarbamol, Indomethacin, Quinine, Rozerem, Tizanidine, Lanoxin, Apap, Decadron, Omnicef, Triamterene, Strattera, Atropine, Fioricet, Relafen, Compazine, Restoril, Endocet, Spiriva, Dexamethasone, Zelnorm, Vioxx, Hydrocortisone, Niaspan, Mirtazapine, Nasonex, Hyzaar, Tetracycline, Terazosin, Provera, Avalide, Lodine, Aldactone, Fluconazole, Lupron, Diphenhydramine, Septra, Thyroid, Methylprednisolone, Fexofenadine, Amlodipine, Ditropan, Famotidine, Accupril, Amaryl, Atrovent, Phenytoin, Colchicine, Vasotec, Atacand, Yasmin, Proscar, Flovent, Caduet, Lupron, Pepcid, Captopril, Doxepin, Macrobid, Entex, Lamisil, Prednisolone, Piroxicam, Sinemet, Bentyl, Dopamine, Lidoderm, Zestril, Imdur, Clarinex, Butalbital, Combivent, Levitra, Ampicillin, Versed, Duragesic, Bextra, Cardura, Hydralazine, Pseudoephedrine, Enebrel, Indocin

Schering-Plough comments on Zetia chocolates picture published by Question Authority.

Yesterday Question Authority brought you this image:



Today, someone at Schering-Plough commented, after a helpful reader published a link on SP's message board:

"No shit. Half the fat f#*ks in these offices won't even look at you unless bring them crap like this. A majority of them will even give you specifcs as to what to bring them. The other half are very appreciative and recognize that we are only looking for a few seconds of the dr's time."

Source.

Quite frankly, I feel bad for the Schering-Plough reps. Everyone in the world wants them to stop selling Vytoring and Zetia, and their management is pushing them to sell more. That's a tough position to be in. At the end of the day, they have to provide for their families, and if chocolates work, because that's what those medical offices are asking for, well, I guess chocolates it is.

How low can Question Authority go?

Question Authority has a new objective: Lose maximum number of readers in one week.

I figured, if I keep playing German Volksmusik, perhaps I can reduce readership. Or, at a minimum, give Pfizer's lawyers a headache.

No such thing has happened. Just as many readers keep coming, including the New York lawyers in suspenders, which truly surprises me. In fact, number of readers have increased sharply last few days!

This is all very confusing. But I'm not giving up.

I'll do anything I can to get rid of some of my readers. Prepare for a week of celebrating music rarely played inside the Big Blue.

Introducing: Andrea Rost

Die Zauberflöte Pamina's aria


La Traviata


Bester Jüngling!

Heimatmusik.

More must-listen to music . . . :))

Marc Pircher - Oh Zillertal , du schönes Tal



Diana Sorbello - Ich fange nie mehr was an einem Sonntag an



Marc Pircher - Marianne



Marc Pircher - Teifl eini Teifl aussi. Simply irresistible.



Finally . . . Bettina & Patricia!

Merck: From $60 to $37 in three months flat.



Those 25 hedge fund and investment managers I met with mid January just made a fortune . . . if they took my advice.

Story.

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Volksmusik . . . aus Deutschland.

S' ist Feierobnd



Lili Marlene



Heimatmelodien

Desperation.

Walden (1854) by Henry David Thoreau is one of the best-known non-fiction books written by an American author.

My first boss in the U.S., twenty years ago, who was also one of the best copywriters I've ever known, loved to quote this line: "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation."

At the time I was young, and didn't have the wisdom to appreciate those words . . .

Of course, Thoreau also wrote in his first chapter of Walden, "Age is no better, hardly so well, qualified for an instructor as youth, for it has not profited so much as it has lost."

One picture says more than . . .



This image was taken with a cell phone, by someone passing by the doctor's lounge area yesterday ~2pm.

It shows how Schering-Plough and Merck are addressing the "communication problem" caused by the Enhance trial and dropping sales of Vytorin and Zetia.

Au contraire.


Monday, April 28, 2008

Bla bla bla bla bla.

Pfizer Nigeria continues with more boring stuff. Pfizer may have received approval. $10 million offer was outrageous. Bla bla bla.

Mylan COO didn't have MBA, big time cover-up by the well connected. Bla bla bla.

Fred Hassan made $30 mill, he took $2 million "house money" to reassure investors and bought SP stock. Kind of funny. Wonder what he did with the rest. Bla bla bla.

Nothing changes.

Boooring.

The secret blogger at GoozNews

Here she is with her first healthcare post at GoozNews.

Depressing books?

"I picked up and set down a lot of books this weekend. Novels, memoirs, exposes, fiction favorites. None of them stuck.

So why, oh why, did the most interesting book I started have to be
Our Daily Meds: How the Pharmaceutical Companies Transformed Themselves Into Slick Marketing Machines and Hooked the Nation on Prescription Drugs, by Melody Petersen?

So, no, I didn’t need another depressing book. I’m reading it anyway. This is a popular publishing area right now–with books like Shannon Brownlee’s
Overtreated and Marcia Angell’s The Truth about the Drug Companies heading up the competition–but this is one of the best books (along with Peter Rost’s The Whistleblower) on the subject I’ve seen."

Source:
Nonfiction Readers Anonymous

It's raining outside

Some people claim blogging is addictive. I'm not sure that's true.

It's like saying talking to friends is addictive. Perhaps it could be, but for most it is simply entertaining.

Today it is raining, and I thought you might want to know. It is one of those warm, refreshing rains that clean the pollen from the air.

It feels good and rejuvenating.


I think, today, I'll enjoy the rain.

Ayn Rand 1959



Cheers Jack!

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Every nickel counts at Schering-Plough

According to a new travel policy, car service to/from the airport is no longer allowed unless the employee is traveling for a minimum of 7 days. The policy also states that if damage is done to a car left at the airport, the employee's insurance company is responsible before Schering-Plough provides any reimbursement.

So let's see, round trip car service is about $200 for most people, minus cost of parking, meaning the company saves around $100 per trip (high estimate). If we assume 1,000 employees make 10 airport trips per year, that is an annual saving of $1 million.

Fred only has another $999 million to save (excluding half a billion related to cutting back Organon).

All it takes are another 999 bright ideas, just like this one!

(QA assumes Fred's corporate jet is off the table--after all, savings should hit the little people first!)

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

I'm relaxing.

With the new Scherlings-Plowed blog, I really don't need to write much about Schering or Merck. That blogger is fantastic, so I'm happy to let him do the job. I've even learned who he is, but I can't tell. Don't miss reading every day, he is absolutely terrific today!

And, Pharmalot and PharmaGossip are doing a great job piling on to the heap of people scrutinizing shady drug deals over at those two unhappy organizations, so why exert myself?

Doen't help that the sun is shining, it is HOT outside and . . . hey, a few newspaper are actually PAYING me to write . . . come to think of it, I need to come up with a new story for my overseas column on Monday. Perhaps I should check out Pharmalot or PharmaGossip for ideas?

Monday, April 21, 2008

NJ Attorney General goes after Schering-Plough and Merck.

"Merck and Schering-Plough also recently received subpoenas dated April 4, 2008 from the Office of the New Jersey Attorney General seeking documents related to the ENHANCE trial and the sales and marketing of VYTORIN." See Merck quarterly report.

NJ's own AG Anne Milgram in action:

Autopsies going down. Yeah!!!


I never quite understood the strong medical urge to butcher every dead body in the name of science. Quite distasteful, I can attest to, having attended a few of these morbid exercises.

Apparently more and more hospitals agree with me, according to NEJM.

Must read today about Schering-Plough.

In answer to a reader, over at CafePharma. . . .

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Not my headline.

Forbes: Pfizer flops.

Just as I predicted, Pfizer drops like a rock.

On March 17 I wrote an article for the Swedish business daily, Realtid, with the headline "Pfizer stock will tumble."

Today PFE stock did tumble. If shareholders listened to my comments, including the ones I made about failed Exubera way before anyone on Wall Street woke up they'd have saved a bundle. And if Pfizer would have cared to have listened to me maybe they'd have saved a bundle too, rather than taking billion dollar charges for failed products. At least some investment banks and hedge funds are taking notice and are, indeed, listening. I told those guys what was coming in January.

So anyway, Pfizer Inc. today tumbled to its lowest price per share in more than a decade in New York trading after it missed analysts' estimates in reporting that profit plunged 18 percent.

"Unless Kindler's plan is to tank revenue, I would say his plan is not working,'' said Les Funtleyder, an analyst with Miller Tabak & Co. in New York, in a telephone interview today. "There has been a lot of dissatisfaction from shareholders that they haven't been more aggressive. I think this announcement will only raise the din of investment concern.''

First-quarter net income declined to $2.8 billion, or 41 cents a share, the New York-based company said today in a statement. Revenue fell 5 percent to $11.8 billion as a boost from currency exchange rates failed to overcome a combined $777 million drop in sales for its cholesterol pill Lipitor and blood pressure drug Norvasc, both facing generic competition. Profit excluding some items missed analysts' estimates by 5 cents.

The company doesn't have enough products in development to replace those going off patent within four years, including Lipitor, which accounts for about 40 percent of profits, analysts said. Pfizer Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Kindler has tried to keep earnings up by cutting as much as $2 billion in costs and squeezing more revenue out of existing products.

Pfizer fell 81 cents, or 3.8 percent, to $20.29, at 9:37 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading, after declining 22 percent in the 12 months before today. The last time the stock price was lower was Sept. 30, 1997, when it hit $20.04. The drop is the biggest since Dec. 4, 2006.

Internet drug scam has hi-jacked my e-mail.

Some crazy German spammers trying to sell fake Viagra and other crap are using my e-mail address as the return address. Unfortunately this is very easy to do, anyone can change to a fake e-mail return address in Outlook, thanks to the idiots at Microsoft.

So they're not actually mailing from my e-mail account, but it looks like that to the recipient and I end up with all the bounced e-mails for fake Viagra and fake Cialis.

Seriously, looking at spammers the Internet appears to be populated with horny old goats not getting something, because someone must be buying all those stiffening pills.

I guess the least I can do to return the favor to the spammers is to to post the image of their fake pharmacy with their fake drugs. And hey, anyone else in the blogosphere who wants to connect to the mailing addresses, http://seewait.com/, and http://beforeprotect.com/ and http://togetherfinal.com/ with "fake" feel free to do so!


Saturday, April 12, 2008

Friday, April 11, 2008

Vytorin: Just how much does Schering-Plough hate Merck?

This much, page 52.




Soren Bo Christiansen is the General Manager Bone, Respiratory, Immunology and
Endocrine Franchise, Merck & Co., Inc. Enrico Veltri is the Schering-Plough group vice president of global clinical development and a leader of the Vytorin joint venture with Merck

Schering-Plough and Merck lied about ENHANCE, according to one of the investigators.

Here are the comments on the November 16, 2007 "minutes" for the ENHANCE trial by Jim Stein, a University of Wisconsin cardiology professor and one of the outside experts.

The notes and related e-mails were released this afternoon by the House committee.

Oh boy. I'm cynical, but I guess, never cynical enough.

We knew it! There are rats over at Pfizer HQ.

According to New York Health inspectors.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Explicit criminal complaint unsealed against Pfizer Global Patent VP, accused of possessing child pornography.

An explicit criminal complaint against Pfizer Global Patent VP Alan Hesketh has been unsealed. The document is now hosted on a public web site.

Warning--the affidavit contains highly disturbing messages attributed to the accused Pfizer VP. It also, however, gives an unusual insight into how the U.S. government attempts to thwart child predators.

Wednesday, April 09, 2008

The final nail in the coffin.

Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) and Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR.O) said on Wednesday clinical trials of the inhaled insulin Exubera found increased cases of lung cancer, leading Nektar to stop seeking a marketing partner for the troubled product and abandon it.

Source.

Looks who's popular!

An amazing vote. Almost makes you wonder if two companies didn't have someone pusing these votes . . . if it is too good to be true, it usually is too good to be true.

Also, check out the losers!

The Court Proceedings of the Washington Madame Scandal Teaches Men There is a Job Few Knew Existed: "Tester"

Story in the Washington Post.

Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Gräv 08, Göteborg, Sweden


I'm off to Göteborg, Sweden, as one of the presenters at a three day meeting for investigative journalists; Gräv -08, apparently about 800 of those have signed up . . .

If you want to read the cover article for "Gräv Magazine" in which yours truly said a few words, go here.



I'm also going to talk to a few business people as part of a program administered by the West Swedish Business Bureau (Västsvenska Industri- och Handelskammaren).