Whistle-Blowers Former Pfizer Salesman Maintains Triable Retaliation Claim

Discussion in 'Pfizer' started by Anonymous, Apr 6, 2014 at 11:47 PM.

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  1. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    April 1 — Two former pharmaceutical salesmen in St. Louis may pursue False Claims Act allegations against Pfizer Inc. for purportedly fraudulent promotion of medication, and one of the former employees can advance his FCA retaliation claim, a federal district court in Massachusetts held March 26 (United States ex rel. Booker v. Pfizer, 2014 BL 84515, D. Mass., No. 10–11166, 3/26/14).
    Salesmen Alex Booker and Edmund Hebron established a plausible claim that Pfizer caused physicians to seek reimbursement for prescribing the drug Geodon for uses not approved by the Food and Drug Administration, and not included in federally recognized compendia, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts decided. The salesmen alleged that Pfizer continued to market Geodon for these “off-label,” “non-compendium” uses, even after Pfizer signed a 2009 agreement with the government settling allegations of similar reimbursement claims.
    Partially denying Pfizer's motion to dismiss, Judge Douglas P. Woodlock also ruled that Booker may proceed with an individual retaliation claim based on his January 2010 termination, following 19 years of employment and his multiple complaints about off-label non-compendium sales practices.
    The salesmen's claims regarding off-label non-compendium uses of a second medication failed, the court decided. It allowed some of their claims under state law to go forward, but solely on the premise that Pfizer caused false claims to be filed through kickbacks.
    Retaliation Claim Survives
    Throughout 2009, Booker raised repeated objections to Pfizer's off-label sales methods and distortions of clinical research, the court said. It found that Booker complained mostly to his district manager, and called the company's compliance hotline in October 2009 about his concerns with the manager's allegedly false representations.
    On Jan. 5, 2010, Booker e-mailed the corporate compliance department, again objecting to his manager's off-label promotion of Geodon. The next day Pfizer terminated Booker.
    The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit distinguishes between protected activity involving investigations that could reasonably lead to a viable FCA action, and concerns about regulatory failures without some sort of fraudulent claims, Woodlock wrote. He said this case is “one involving the inducement of claims by third parties.”
    “One who causes or is material to false claims is [the] subject of FCA liability no less than one who directly makes a false claim,” the judge wrote. “Here, Booker did not report just mere regulatory failures, but also fraudulent conduct directed at physicians to encourage off-label Geodon use.”
    Booker was a consistently high-performing sales representative, winning multiple awards and ranking in the top 5 percent in his region shortly before his discharge, the court said. This high ranking, coupled with Pfizer corporate's knowledge of Booker's Geodon concerns, supports a plausible retaliation claim.
     

  2. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    This is how we roll here. Even though it will hurt our bottom line, I hope that we get nailed for $3 billion this time, breaking the record that broke our Bextra fine record. Terminating a high performer 24 hours after he lodged a formal complaint just further demonstrated our stupidity and arrogance.
     
  3. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Are you able to provide a link to the article you posted? I was unable to find this article, or any other related article, despite extensive google searches.
     
  4. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Its there. Improve your google skills. Guess we know why Amy is gone. So sad now.
     
  5. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    If it helps anyone else, I did finally find several links to the case, but not to the original article posted, by googling "Massachusetts Booker Hebron Pfizer".
     
  6. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Pfizer paid Google ad-words to delete that search and link.
     
  7. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    This is why you should never trust the compliance dept in business to protect Pfizer, Inc. Not scumbag lawyers like Jeffrey&Scott who don't have a freakin clue and try to hide under false attorney client privilege assertions that no state court would uphold.

    Instead Pfizer tries to bury you into financial demise by filing multiple briefs and sending truckloads of garbage documents in subpoena requests, to waste your private counsels time and billing.

    Pfizer should be prosecuted under the RICO statutes.
     
  8. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    NEVER, NEVER trust any internal dept. re: complaints, HR issues, etc. They work for PFE, get paid by PFE, and will protect PFE, certainly not you!!!!
     
  9. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Absolutely true. Their job is to protect the corporation and if you end up as "collateral damage" NYC will look the other way. Be very careful!
     
  10. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Did they protect the company in this case?
     
  11. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Good question.

    In their eyes they felt they were protecting the company, but because they are so inept, they likely didn't. Maybe, maybe not?

    I will wait for the facts to come out at trial before I make any judgments. You never know, this Booker guy may have made up everything to try and get his manager fired? Pfizer may have investigated the doctors he allegedly said the manager was trying to sell off label to.

    If it's just he said, he said, with no other evidence, Booker has no shot.

    I came to this company about at that time, and the compliance department was about as insanely insane about pure 100% compliance as it could possibly be. This DM would be a total fool to try anything, especially after Booker allegedly complained to him and HR. It smells fishy to me on Booker's side. Yet there are 2 reps going after Pfizer? Maybe 2 reps are enough to convince a jury or scare Pfizer into settling?

    Also, if I were this adamant about getting my DM, his ass would have been tape recorded by me after the first screw up. Did Booker or the other rep tape record him????

    Too many questions right now to hate on either side.
     
  12. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    In my 15 years at Pfizer, I've only see those who know something and say something, get nothing and always eliminated or severed from Pfizer.
     
  13. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    JeffScott gives big money to actblue, so figures one would conduct themselves rogue like Obama-Holder-Bauer-Cummings-Lerner. Looking for scapegoats and political kill lists. Better hope your not a registered republican when he calls down on his list. So odd a Yankee has two first names like Ricky Bobby.
     
  14. #14 Anonymous, Apr 10, 2014 at 10:05 PM
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 16, 2017 at 5:36 PM
    Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Always, always get Proof and contact a lawyer or Department of Justice. Never call a corporate compliance hotline.
    Never.

    Anybody else have proof that they were promoting Bextra off label? What was the off lable claim?