Friday, July 20, 2007

Webinar: How to Become a Successful Pharma Whistleblower

More and more "whistleblowers" are coming forward in the pharmaceutical industry after years and years of going along with the flow, breaking the law like everyone else. Usually, they blow the whistle just before they are fired or are expected to lose their jobs because of mergers or downsizing.

"Timing is everything," says Sedgwick Knocks, Esq., attorney at Sedgwick Partners, LLP. His law firm has represented over 100 whistleblowers, many of whom are former pharmaceutical executives who either hated their new bosses, were too old or lazy to do their jobs, or just amassed enough evidence in their garages to allow them to retire early.

"These days," says Sedgwick, "mid-level managers are never assured that they will reach retirement. More and more, they are being marginalized in dead-end jobs or terminated just before they are vested in their retirement plans. Worse, with the current dearth of new products in their pipelines, drug company stock options are rapidly losing their value. It is essential, therefore, that every manager prepare for the day when he or she may have to blow the whistle."
The Pharma Whistleblower Webinar will tell you everything you need to become a successful whistleblower.
Date: Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Time: 1pm ET / 12pm CT / 11am MT / 10am PT
Length: 60 minutes
Speaker: Sedgwick Knocks, Esq.

ONLY $295.00!

REGISTER ONLINE TODAY!
www.blowthef**kingwhistle.com
Walk through each step of the whistleblowing process and avoid pitfalls in order to save time and money.

Here's what you'll learn:
  • How to secretly stash away incriminating emails and other documents and keep them safe in your garage for 20 years or more!
  • Learn when it is the right time to blow the whistle. Too soon and you won't be able to enjoy the benefit of having a multi-six-figure income to help you send your children to college or buy that new Mercedes! Too late and you'll be too old to trade in your current wife for a newer model and live to enjoy the other benefits of whistleblowing!
  • Learn where to invest your money so that you can weather the few years you may be without income after you blow the whistle.
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SPECIAL GUEST PETER ROST WILL TELL US HOW HE STARTED UP HIS OWN BUSINESS AND CONTINUED TO FLOURISH WHILE HIS WHISLTEBLOWER CASE WAS PENDING
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  • Learn how to break the law just like everyone else so that you do not arouse suspicion. You'll learn how immunity will protect you from being prosecuted along with your cohorts who you blow the whistle on.
  • And much, much more!
If you register today, you'll get a free authentic QUESTION AUTHORITY T-shirt worth I don't know how many dollars!
Date: Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Time: 1pm ET / 12pm CT / 11am MT / 10am PT
Length: 60 minutes
Speaker: Sedgwick Knocks, Esq.

ONLY $295.00!

REGISTER ONLINE TODAY!
www.blowthef**kingwhistle.com

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Like all the best spoofs, there's an element of truth here.

But it is very naughty of you indeed to suggest for one minute that all whistleblowers are just disgruntled losers who are out for revenge! I think that's only true in the majority of cases.

But whatever a whsitleblower's motivation, it surely cannot be a bad thing to shine a bright light into the murkier recesses of pharma? You make it sound wrong.

Would you rather just have folk meekly bending over and taking the rough end of the proverbial pineapple, rather than making their soon-to-be-ex-masters as uncomfortable as they can?

Dr. Rost flourishes by dint of his wit(s). I look forward to his response to this provacative example of yours.

Forward With The Yobbosphere!!!

PharmaGuy said...

I admit that I am a bit queasy about whistleblowers. Primarily because they are not disinterested parties and often have a hidden agenda: cashing in!

Secondarily, there seems to be quite an industry sprouting up around whistleblowers, especially a legal industry. Who knows how many whistleblowers are enticed by legal eagles to come forward with the scantiest of evidence? When the evidence doesn't pan out, it is often the whistleblower that is left in the dust.

Let's not forget that Peter Rost is the exception that proves the rule. I doubt if many whistleblowers are as resourceful and skilled as Rost, especially not those who put their faith in God!

Thirdly, and maybe most importantly, very few whistleblower cases actually help the industry see the errors of its ways and change. Sure, we get a look at murky recesses, but management circles the wagons ever more tightly and continues along their merry way more stealthily than ever. Where's the fix? Fines are paid and lawyers and whistleblowers divvy up the proceeds with the US Treasury. End of story!

Also, is it just me or are we getting overloaded with whistleblower stories? Wolf! Wolf! Wolf!

Anonymous said...

Perhaps the reason we are getting "overloaded" is that with the rise of blogs such as Dr. Rost's or Ed Silverman's, whistleblowers now have somewhere to turn in the event of corporate intimidation.

The alleged treatment of Mr Olagunju at Novartis is a carbon copy of events I have personally seen happen to others who speak out.

One wonders if there is a standard HR protocol to humiliate and harass honest and ethical employees into resigning.

In this instance (and having read his case statement) I feel sure that Mr. Olagunju is not looking to "cash in". He is simply looking for justice, both for himself and for the public who deserve to be protected from a drug whose harmful side effects may (if proven in court) have been buried for commercial advantage.

He should be admired, not derided. I am not, of course, saying that you are doing the latter, but if you aren't then your timing is pretty bad.

As always, there is merit in what you say regarding some whistles that have gone "peep" recently (did anyone really get seriously worked up about bloody cupcakes, for example?), but I really think you may have picked the wrong time or the wrong case to make your point.

But it is a jolly good spoof, right or wrong. It's good to see people reaching for the gigglestick rather than the boring old bludgeon of point/counterpoint...

PharmaGuy said...

As far as I am concerned,we are not privy to all the facts in any ongoing whistleblower case. We are only hearing details from one side -- the whistleblower, who, of course, always makes himself out to be a martyr.

So, I cannot be certain whether any whistleblower deserves my admiration or not.

That being said, it would be better if companies embraced people who go through proper channels to point out problems. But human nature being the way it is, these people are always going to be treated harshly by their peers who will use any means possible to protect themselves.

I don't envy the position most potential whistleblowers are in. I can see how they are pressured NOT to act until the endgame of their careers arrive. Surely, it is a career-ending move.

For every whistleblower there are probably ten people who just quit and change careers. Some have written books about their experience, which is often more effective than whistleblowing in terms of bringing these issues to light but less effective at providing a profit.

I can't control the timing of my remarks, which I make when the issue has reached a boiling point within me and I can no longer contain it. The timing certainly has no bearing on any particular whistleblower, although I have to admit that in Mr. Olagunju's case, it is difficult not to overlook his remarks about "the Lord".

Rost notes that Mr. Olagunju ends his e-mails with "The Lord is good unto them that wait upon Him. Wait upon the Lord! God bless you."

Isn't this what we see in every 419 scam email originating from Nigeria? As in:

"Remain blessed in the name of the Lord.

"Yours in Christ,
XXXXX"

I've got to wonder if Mr. Olagunju is on some "mission from God" -- a funny line in the Blues Brothers movie, but a bit scary in the real world as we all know!

It seems that this particular case is now hurting Novartis' bottom line and may be delaying the approval of a new drug, which is fine if the allegations are true.

The day may come, however, when a scam artist-drug company short seller will fabricate a whistleblower case out of thin air. And, like Mr. Olagunju's case, it may start with a posting to Cafepharma and be picked by Rost. I am glad, therefore, that Rost followed my advice and my lead -- I sent him a phone number for Mr. Olagunju -- made some calls, checked sources and found real people and real facts.

Others in the blogosphere may not be so diligent in the future.