J&J CEO Weldon has Message for Pfizer CEO Kindler
Pirate CEO Jeff Kindler According to an article on BNet.com, J&J CEO Bill Weldon gave Pfizer CEO Jeff Kindler a ribbing over Pfizer's sale of its consumer products business, which J&J purchased in 2006 (see J&J CEO Rubs Pfizer's Face in Disastrous Consumer Products Sale of '06).  According to the article, “Pfizer (PFE) must have been crazy to sell its consumer products unit to Johnson & Johnson (JNJ).  The deal included brands such as Nicorette, Zantac and Benadryl.  J&J’s Q3 earnings report showed that the consumer products unit has done much better than its prescription drugs section: Sales are down by sin

Health Care Reform Sound Bite
Wendell Potter, former VP, Cigna Insurance Wendell Potter, the former Vice President of Corporate Communications for Cigna turned rogue whistleblower, has posted many interesting, insightful pieces about the insurance industry and health care reform. Listed below is a quote from one his posts that makes a great sound bite. Every time you hear about the shortcomings of what they call “government-run” health care, remember this: what we have now in this country, and what the insurers are determined to keep in place, is Wall Street-run health care. And know that we already have one of the most insidious means of rationing care in the world -- not by peop

An Industry Dedicated to Happier, Healthier Lives?
Source: Christian Science Monitor Regular readers of the Pharma Conduct Blog will know that I have little tolerance for vacuous, PR messages disguised as news and designed to elevate undeservedly the reputation of a company or (especially) a CEO.  Because of my prior experiences in various companies, I am very familiar with the PR strategies typically employed and can spot a shill from a mile away. I had planned not to do any blogging this Thanksgiving, but while casually surfing the net, I came across a piece from The Christian Science Monitor titled People making a difference: Steve Korman that inspired me to write.  Listed below are some

Some Pfizer Sites Receive Warning Letters Today: Approximately 600 Positions to be Eliminated by Jun
Earlier today, an anonymous tipster here on the PharmaConduct blog stated that a warning letter was received at one of these three sites, indicating closure by June 30, 2010: Chazy, Rouses Point, or Plattsburgh.  The tipster stated that approximately 600 positions would be lost.  I have updated the PharmaConduct Site Tracking Dashboard with this information.  Based on previous information about estimated job losses at these sites, which is available in the dashboard, the poster's estimate of 600 positions to be eliminated is consistent with earlier estimates of 582 by C&E News.  Just in terms of personnel related operations costs, 600

Pfizer Loses Another Prempro Case - A sign of things to come?
According to an article on Money.CNN.com, “A jury in Pennsylvania state court Monday awarded $28 million in punitive damages to an Illinois woman who claimed her use of Pfizer Inc.'s (PFE) hormone-therapy drugs caused breast cancer.  The jury had already awarded $6.3 million in compensatory damages Friday in the case of Donna Kendall, of Decatur, Ill., after finding that Pfizer units had engaged in a pattern of willful and reckless conduct.  Wyeth was the primary seller of hormone-therapy drugs, and Pfizer recently acquired the company.  Also, a separate Pfizer unit, Upjohn, was a defendant in the case.“ Ms. Kendall's attorney, Tobi