Latest news from Fred Hassan's office

Hat tip: REDACTED.

Somebody, PLEASE help Schering-Plough

Susan Ellen Wolf, Corporate Secretary, Vice President Governance and Associate General Counsel of Schering-Plough has been posting messages on numerous pharma blogs (Pharmalot, WSJ, Forbes) after Forbes raised the question if Hassan should return some of the money he made a SP.

Here are a few of her statements:

Fred Hassan has a distinguished track record as a CEO who is virtually synonymous with integrity. We see this in his actions every day.

Fred Hassan also has a proven track record as a CEO who has taken a series of some of the biggest challenges in the world of business and turned them around to the benefit of patients, shareowners and society.

We are proud to have Fred Hassan as our CEO.

Seriously, doesn't anyone at Schering-Plough realize how bad this looks?

Does anyone at Schering truly believe that this will make the company look better or help Mr. Hassan?

It's like the mother, who's son was just convicted for a crime, stating "he's really a good boy"!

Ms. Wolf is completely dependent upon Mr. Hassan for her survival and job. She can be expected to say exactly what her master tells her to say.

She is essentially a puppet--for Mr. Hassan and what he wants to communicate.

The only conclusion is that Mr. Hassan is very worried that people will ask him to return some of the money he took from Schering-Plough.

Vytorin - the ad.

Brought to you by the Condor.

Caught lying?: Susan Ellen Wolf, Corporate Secretary and Vice President Governance, Schering-Plough

My, my a Vice President Governance and Associate General Counsel Schering-Plough caught spreading untruthful information?


Or is it the 2007 Schering-Plough proxy that is untruthful?


Something for the SEC?


Story on Scherlings got Plowed.

Hey Fred, since you're trying to save $1.5 billion, how about selling those luxury jets?

Video and photos of Schering-Plough jets, tail numbers N35CD, a Gulfstream V, and N27CD, a G-IV.

Schering-Plough could save an estimated $25 million annually by selling the two jets; this would save about 100 sales jobs.

Will Fred Hassan sacrifice his personal luxury to save hard working employees?



Video of Fred Hassan's plane (check tail number):

Insurers question use of Vytorin

Already, Cigna Corp. has suspended part of a program that notified members using certain other cholesterol drugs that Vytorin was an effective and less costly alternative. The program, known as “step therapy,” is an effort to help health plans control drug costs. Under Cigna’s step-therapy program, members can take “non-preferred” cholesterol drugs, but they have higher copays than “preferred” brands and generic drugs.

Other insurers are also undertaking Vytorin reviews. An independent committee of experts that advises Medco Health Solutions Inc. on drug coverage policies “will be looking at the new data and be making recommendations on any changes” deemed necessary, Medco spokeswoman Ann Smith told Dow Jones Newswires. Another PBM, Express Scripts Inc., is reviewing the study, which the company says is standard practice whenever new drug data comes out. UnitedHealth Group Inc. one of the nation’s largest health insurers, isn’t making any immediate coverage changes for Vytorin, partly because medical guidelines haven’t changed. But a committee will be reviewing the new data later this month.

Schering-Plough Doesn't Want Me.

----Original Message Follows----
From: "Winton, Jeff"
To: "Peter Rost"
Subject: RE: CV attached
Date: Thu, 5 Apr 2007 11:25:41 -0400

Dear Peter:

Thanks for your note. Due to our recently announced acquisition of
Organon Biosciences, we are not adding any communications professionals
to our team at this point in time. There are many competent
communications professionals within the Organon and Intervet
organizations and our goal is to eventually fill any openings that we
may have with these professionals.

Best wishes,

Jeff Winton

-----Original Message-----
From: Peter Rost [mailto:rostpeter@hotmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, April 05, 2007 11:21 AM
To: Winton, Jeff
Subject: CV attached

Dear Jeffrey,

Since you work in the communications and media area, I figured
you might have heard about me, and could assist forwarding my CV to your
CEO with your recommendation to interview me for a leadership position
in your organization.

The fact that I have been vindicated and proven right about what
I did at Pfizer (see below), should make me a very attractive employee
for anyone in the drug industry.

Let's be straight here: I've clearly been blacklisted for more
than a year after Pfizer fired me for blowing the whistle on illegal
marketing, without a single job interview, in spite of the best
performance within all of Pfizer. (See attached CV.) But now things are
different. It turns out that I was right and Pharmacia was wrong. After
all, otherwise Pfizer wouldn't have paid a $35 million fine.

For my full letter to Schering-Plough and one-hundred other PR-professionals and CEO's in the drug industry, go here.

I'm about to get a new job in the drug industry, maybe with AstraZeneca!

What most of you don't know is that only a day before the "Zube Affair" I e-mailed my CV to AstraZeneca's communications professionals. Well, I sent it to Astra's CEO as well. Which may be a bit ironic, considering how this affair has played out.

But it also shows why the drug industry needs me very badly. Especially AstraZeneca.

Perhaps I should also point out that I actually sent my CV to more than one hundred pharma CEO's and communications professionals.

So why do you think I think that I will soon have a new job?

Well, if the Zube Affair doesn't convince them that they need me back, I think my letter will.

The logic is impenetrable. So, soon I'll stop blogging and start working. You heard it here first.

And here's that letter which will land me my next job:

Dear [First Name],

Since you work in the communications and media area, I figured you might have heard about me, and could assist forwarding my CV to your CEO with your recommendation to interview me for a leadership position in your organization.

The fact that I have been vindicated and proven right about what I did at Pfizer (see below), should make me a very attractive employee for anyone in the drug industry.

Let’s be straight here: I’ve clearly been blacklisted for more than a year after Pfizer fired me for blowing the whistle on illegal marketing, without a single job interview, in spite of the best performance within all of Pfizer. (See attached CV.) But now things are different. It turns out that I was right and Pharmacia was wrong. After all, otherwise Pfizer wouldn’t have paid a $35 million fine.

And I thought that since all drug company CEO’s talk about how ethical they are, and how it is always prior management that was guilty of whatever fines they had to pay; perhaps someone in the current management would like to hire me? I mean, that would be like putting the hiring decision where there’s currently just PR-spin.

So, I figured, YOUR COMPANY might be jumping for joy to hire me. And you should probably respond ASAP, so you beat the others to the punch. After all, what better PR could you get for your organization than hiring a guy who did everything right and delivered the best financial results? As a PR professional, you probably realize this would dispel the myth that your company is one of the crooks. I guess the only risk is if you don’t hire me, everyone will wonder what you have to hide . . . but let’s face it, as someone working with public relations for your company, you are keenly aware that only 7% of Americans in the 2006 Harris poll think drug companies “are generally honest and trustworthy,” so there is only upside to you responding to this letter. Because, to be very frank, based on that poll your department has completely failed in its mission and here’s your chance to do something about that.

By the way, not only did my unit during my last year in charge deliver the best financial result within all of Pharmacia/Pfizer based on objective sales data vs. forecast (comparing products with sales of more than $100 million), I also doubled sales in two years, as a general manager for northern Europe, and moved one affiliate from #19 to #7.

And if you don’t have any permanent position available, I’d be very pleased to do some consulting work for you, or come in and entertain your leadership team with a hard-hitting presentation which was voted #1 during a recent industry seminar with drug company PR-professionals (evaluation letter from meeting organizers available upon request).

I’m looking forward to hearing back from you, very soon. And, please don’t be afraid to forward this e-mail. At a minimum your CEO will be entertained.

Regards,
Peter Rost

But there is more; I immediately got one response to this letter last last week, from one drug company that decided right away they didn't want me: Schering-Plough.

If I remember correctly, most of Pharmacia's old management went to Schering-Plough. Including the guy who was in charge of Genotropin before I started . . . now why would they not want to hire me?

They if anyone would need me. Too bad they don't seem to realize that. Stay tuned. I hear Department of Justice is investigating Pharmacia's Bextra marketing.