The Saga of Peter Rost
Anyone in need of a contentious pharma exec? There’s one looking for a job. I’ve written about Rost at least twice in these pages, as I recall, both times denouncing his self-aggrandizing, ill-conceived posturing against his employer, Pfizer. I called for Pfizer to fire him long ago and have never understood why they didn’t–until now. Now, it has been revealed that Rost was trying to get the U.S. feds to back him in a whistle-blower lawsuit over his former employer’s (Pharmacia) handling of Genotropin marketing in Europe. That is why Pfizer couldn’t can his ass; he was protected by U.S. federal law and could have sued Pfizer for wrongful termination had they fired him. Now that the feds have decided not to back Rost in a whistle-blower suit, Pfizer was free to fire him, which is precisely what they did. It’s a shame Pfizer deemed it necessary to offer the overpaid exec the post-merger Pharmacia golden umbrella severance package, but I’m sure they consider it a small price to pay to have Rost off their payroll. My career advice to Dr. Rost…give Public Citizen a call. You and Dr. Wolfe seem to have much in common.
