Pfizer fires “rogue” exec

Pfizer terminates VP-Marketing Peter Rost Dec. 1. Rost made headlines in 2004 when he publicly voiced support for pharmaceutical importation (1"The Pink Sheet" Sept. 27, 2004, p. 15). His termination follows the unsealing of a qui tam lawsuit in which Rost alleged Pharmacia violated the False Claims Act by promoting the human growth hormone product Genotropin off-label prior to Pfizer's acquisition of the firm in 2003. The Boston U.S. Attorney chose not to intervene on Rost's behalf in the case although governmental investigations into other aspects of Pharmacia's Genotropin promotion are ongoing, the company says...