Ex-Pfizer VP Can Pursue|Whistleblower Claims

(CN) - The 2nd Circuit revived the New Jersey whistleblower claims of a former Pfizer executive who says he was fired for speaking out about the drug giant's off-label marketing of the human growth hormone Genotropin.

Dr. Peter Rost, a former vice president for Pfizer and predecessor Pharmacia Inc., sued the companies under the False Claims Act and a New Jersey whistleblower law after his firing in 2005.

Rost is well-known for testifying in Congress about the criminal business practices of the pharmaceutical industry. His allegations led to a criminal investigation of Pfizer by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Rost also publicly supported the re-importation of drugs to lower costs.

He claimed he was fired in retaliation for speaking out about his employer's practice of marketing Genotropin for off-label uses, including to combat aging and to boost child growth.

A federal judge dismissed Rost's lawsuit against the two drug companies and four executives.

The Manhattan-based federal appeals court agreed that Rost had failed to prove any False Claims Act violations, but it reinstated his state-law whistleblower claims.

"The district court apparently misunderstood the scope of CEPA" -- the New Jersey Conscientious Employee Protection Act -- by examining whether Rost voiced his concerns to "a supervisory or public body," the ruling states.

"In fact, CEPA protects employees who disclose information 'to a supervisor or to a public body,'" which Rost allegedly did, the court ruled.

The 2nd Circuit reversed and remanded the state-law claims, saying "New Jersey law may recognize that [Rost] engaged in protected activity beginning in fall 2002 or spring 2003."

Rost is the author of "The Whistleblower: Confessions of a Healthcare Hitman," released in 2006.

He filed a similar False Claims Act lawsuit against Pfizer and Pharmacia in Massachusetts, which is still pending.

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