New Jersey looking into Amgen marketing of Enbrel

Jan/18/2008 06:07 Filed in: Pharma Business
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The attorney General of New Jersey is looking into charges made by a former Amgen sales representative who claim that they were directed to get patient records from physicians and call patients directly to recommend Enbrel. While one would roll their eyes in disbelief at these charges one of the salespeople who was fired has turned over a copy of a voice mail from her supervisor as well as a memo that could be a hell of a lot more than a smoking gun.


According to today's New York TImes:


The attorney general, Anne Milgram, who has been looking into pharmaceutical marketing practices, said in a news release Thursday that the state had issued a subpoena to Amgen for “a comprehensive array of documents and information” related to the sale, marketing and prescribing of Enbrel.

Ms. Milgram said she was also looking into whether Amgen had engaged in off-label marketing. Enbrel is approved for moderate or severe psoriasis, but the two former sales representatives say the company tried to sell it for mild psoriasis as well.

The two former employees are now in arbitration with Amgen, saying they lost their jobs because they did not engage in what they considered illegal practices. One, Elena Ferrante, who was a sales representative in New Jersey, said she was fired in 2005. The other, Marc Engelman, whose territory was Southern California, said he quit last year after getting a poor performance review.



Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse pharma does something to get themselves in trouble and then say "who me?" Now normally one would not believe two employees who were fired and think that they are just trying to get even but with the highest legal person in New Jersey getting involved and a trail of voice mails and memo's one has to think that there is something to the accusations. The question is "at what level of the organization was this illegal action approved and known"? Actually politicians could learn from pharma's ability to hide data and facts since the trails always seem to go cold.

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