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ged/328/7435/306
Whistleblower removed from job for talking to the press
Jeanne Lenzer New York
A whistleblower who uncovered evidence that major drug
companies sought to influence government officials has been
removed from his job and placed on administrative leave.
Allen Jones, an investigator at the Pennsylvania Office of
the Inspector General (OIG), was escorted out of his
workplace on 28 April and told "not to appear on OIG
property" after OIG officials accused him of talking to the
press. Reports of Mr Jones's findings were widely reported
in the New York Times, BMJ (7 February, p 306), and
elsewhere.
His findings showed that the pharmaceutical company Janssen
had paid honorariums to key state officials who held
influence over the drugs prescribed in state-run prisons and
mental hospitals.
Mr Jones filed a suit on 7 May against his supervisors
charging that the OIG's policy of barring employees from
talking to the media was "unconstitutional." Mr Jones
claims, in the complaint filed in the Middle District Court
of Pennsylvania, that he is being harassed by his superiors
and Pennsylvania governmental institutions in order to
"coverup, discourage, and limit any investigations or
oversight into the corrupt practices of large drug companies
and corrupt public officials who have acted with them."
Mr Jones had been earlier removed as lead investigator on
the case after being told by a manager that "drug companies
write cheques to politicians on both sides of the aisle."
In July 2002 Mr Jones was appointed lead investigator when
he uncovered evidence of payments into an off-the-books
account. The account, earmarked for "educational grants" was
funded in large part by Pfizer and Janssen Pharmaceuticals.
Payments were made from the account to state employees who
developed formulary guidelines recommending expensive new
drugs over older, cheaper drugs with proved track records.
One of the recommended drugs was Janssen's antipsychotic
medicine risperidone (Risperdal)—a drug that has recently
been found to have potentially lethal side effects. The Food
and Drug Administration issued a warning letter to Janssen
on 27 April saying that Janssen's "Dear Healthcare Provider"
letter about risperidone was "false or misleading" because
it failed to disclose or minimised risks of the drug
relating to "serious adverse events including ketoacidosis,
hyperosmolar coma, and death."
Don Bailey, Mr Jones's attorney, said the case is a critical
test of the right to a free press. "If they shut the
employee up and they have all the documents locked up in a
drawer there is no free press," he said.
Amy Wasserleben, spokeswoman for the OIG, said they would
not comment on Mr Jones or the corruption allegations. When
asked about the status of the corruption investigation she
refused to answer. In response to a question about whether
the state OIG could withhold information of public
interest, she said, "The OIG is specifically exempt from
right-to-know laws."
The Pennsylvania formulary is based on the Texas Medication
Algorithm Project that has been exported to about 12 states
and was recently commended as a model programme by President
Bush's New Freedom Commission.
However, Dr Peter J Weiden, who was a member of the
project's expert consensus panel, charges that the
guidelines are based on "opinions, not data" and that bias
due to funding sources undermines the credibility of the
guidelines since "most of the guideline's authors have
received support from the pharmaceutical industry."