All contributed toward exposing industry front groups that pose as "patient advocacy" groups, and on Dec. 30 The American Council on Science and Health was shown for what it is.
2005 shed light on Pharma’s bag of dirty tricks used to silence critics–conscientious whistleblowers–who dared to speak out
against manufacturers’ corrupt practices that have led to thousands of preventable deaths.
Among these are concealment of hazardous (deadly) effects of marketed drugs / vaccines / medical devices,
and the drug industry’s pricing policies that fleece the American taxpayers.
Some of the dirty tricks are worthy of vaudeville–as, for example "The Karassik Conspiracy"…
or the case of Dr. Peter Rost, the Terminated Pfizer Executive who on December 30, was nominated “Whiny Whistleblower of the Year”
by Drug Industry Front Organization–The American Council on Science and Health (ACSH).
Dr. Rost has been an outspoken advocate for drug re-importation and was
fired on December 1, 2005, after his False Claims Act lawsuit against Pfizer
was unsealed; that suit resulted in an ongoing criminal investigation
conducted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Massachusetts.
In his nomination, Gilbert Ross, M.D., Executive and Medical Director of the
ACSH stated that the biggest “Whiny Whistleblower” for 2005 was “the person
who most outrageously defied his or her employer, regardless of loyalty,
science, or even common sense.” Dr. Ross concluded “I vote for ex-Pfizer
V.P. Dr. Peter Rost, an inept exec but a pretty good whistleblower. He
provoked a federal investigation of his own company in 2003, alleging that
Pfizer was responsible for the improper marketing of the synthetic growth
hormone Genotropin.” Dr. Ross failed to mention that under Dr. Rost’s
leadership Genotropin became the #1 performing +$100 million Pfizer
franchise vs. budget in 2003.
http://www.acsh.org/factsfears/newsID.680/news_detail.asp
But perhaps Dr. Ross isn’t a good judge of character. According to the
magazine Mother Jones, “Ross spent all of 1996 at a federal prison camp in
Schuylkill, Pennsylvania, having being sentenced to 46 months in prison for
his participation in a scheme that ultimately defrauded New York’s Medicaid
program of approximately $8 million.”
http://www.motherjones.com/news/outfront/2005/11/paging_dr_ross.html
The American Council on Science and Health stopped disclosing corporate
donors in the early 1990s, according to Integrity in Science. The following
drug companies contributed to ACSH, according to ACSH’s 1991 annual report
and ACSH Corporate Donors 1997: Pfizer, Abbott Laboratories, American
Cyanamid, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Ciba-Geigy, Eli Lilly, Hoffman-La Roche,
Johnson & Johnson, Rhone-Poulenc, Sandoz, Searle, Syntex, Warner-Lambert,
Upjohn, Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association.
http://www.cspinet.org/integrity/nonprofits/american_council_on_science_and_health.html
When asked about the "award" Dr. Rost said:
"I’m grateful to have been officially nominated "Whiny Whistleblower of the
Year" by the American Council on Science and Health; a paid front
organization for Pfizer and Big Pharma. The Award nicely demonstrates the
panic that ensues when an employee speaks the truth. Most recently available
data indicates that Pfizer has been one of the biggest donors to the ACSH.
The fact that I won this award in competition against two other PhRMA
demons, (or consumer heroes, pick your choice), Dr. David Graham, of the
FDA, and Dr. Eric Topol, of the Cleveland Clinic is a humbling experience."
Our wish for the New Year, let a thousand whistleblowers join our battle to shed light
on corrupt practices undermining the integrity of medicine-
By piercing the walls of silence we can save lives.