Thursday, June 09, 2005

Pfizer Dissident Unplugged

The New York Times reported that Dr. Peter Rost, a Pfizer executive who publicly spoke out in favor of importation of low cost drugs, lost his company email and cell-phone service after he appeared on "60 Minutes," again speaking in favor of drug importation.
A Pfizer spokesman, Paul Fitzhenry, implied that Dr. Rost's communication problems were technical, "there have been cases, through a change of vendor, where some employees have lost service for a period of time." However, Rost also claimed that he no longer has employees who report to him, a secretary, or an identified supervisor, and he now works out an isolated office next to the company security department.
After Rost first publicly came out in favor of drug importation, a Pfizer spokesperson had said, "Dr. Rost has no qualifications to speak on importation."
Rost formerly worked for Pharmacia until it was acquired by Pfizer. He was in charge of the marketing of genotropin.
Rost must have thought he was on the faculty of a university, and thus had free speech and academic freedom (but then again, a look at the FIRE web-site might suggest that university faculty may not always be so privileged either.)

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