[Ip-health] Senator Recommends Pfizer Whistleblower Peter Rost As FDA Commish

[Sarah Rimmington]

Senator Recommends Peter Rost As FDA Commish
By Ed Silverman // December 4th, 2008 // 11:48 am
http://www.pharmalot.com/2008/12/senator-recommends-peter-rost-as-fda-commi=
sh/

For the past month, a favorite sport among some Washington insiders and,
certainly, the pharmaceutical world has been trying to figure out who
will succeed the unflappable Andy von Eschenbach as FDA commissioner.
Would it be the FDA=92s own Janet Woodcock? Baltimore health commissioner
Josh Sharfstein? Duke=92s Robert Califf? Harvard=92s David Blumenthal? Or
maybe Cleveland Clinic=92s Steve Nissen?

Now, US Senator Sherrod Brown, an Ohio Democrat, is nominating several
candidates for the post and one of them is=85. drumroll=85. Peter Rost, the
former marketing exec who is embroiled in a whistleblower lawsuit with
Pfizer (look here) and gained notoriety for stumping in Washington DC -
with Brown at his side - in favor of importing lower-cost drugs from
Canada. Brown=92s legislative director, who has been in touch with Rost,
confirms that the senator is sending a letter of recommendation on
behalf of Rost, as well as several other candidates =93whom he believes
merit consideration for the post.=94

From: Dehoney, Eleanor (Brown)
Sent: Wednesday, November 26, 2008 12:37 PM
To: =91Peter Rost=92
Subject: RE: Senator Brown

Hi Peter, Sherrod is going to do a letter of recommendation to send to
the right folks on the transition team. Will try to get it out the door
today or Friday.

From: Peter Rost [mailto:rostpeter@hotmail.com]
Sent: Monday, November 24, 2008 1:54 PM
To: Dehoney, Eleanor (Brown)
Subject: RE: Senator Brown

Dear Ellie,

Thanks for your offer to assist!

Specifically I=92d like to be considered for FDA Commissioner, and I
figured that for this position I need to also ask the people in the
Senate that I=92ve worked with in the past for help, so that my name is
forwarded to the right decision makers with a recommendation. I have
also filled out the online application.

In short my position is that the FDA needs some serious change and so
does our national healthcare policy:

1. The FDA needs to work for the people, not the drug companies. This
means speedier drug warnings and removal of unsafe drugs.
2. Limit direct-to-consumer drug advertising which creates demand for
inappropriate treatment (i.e. Vioxx)
3. Reimportation of drugs should be regulated and legalized, to minimize
sale of unsafe Internet drugs and increase choice for low income patients.
4. Hundreds of unapproved drugs sold illegally but openly because the
FDA doesn=92t =93have time=94 to enforce the law is unacceptable, see USA
Today article.
5. The agency needs to be managed more efficiently and focus better on
what makes a difference to the health and well being of American citizens.

By the way, there is an ongoing online poll among pharmaceutical
employees, academics and bloggers and journalists about who should
become the next FDA Commissioner, started by Pharma Marketing. For
results see this . . . I appear to be leading even among the responders
most positive to the drug industry!

Please let me know if I can give you any further information.

Regards,
Peter

=97=97=97=97=97=97=97=97=97=97=97=97=97=97=97=97=97=97=97=97=97=97=97=97=97=
=97=96

Subject: Senator Brown
Date: Mon, 24 Nov 2008 10:35:34 -0500
From: Dehoney, Eleanor (Brown)
To: rostpeter@hotmail.com

Hi Peter, I=92m Senator Brown=92s Legislative Director. Sherrod asked me to
follow up on your letter expressing interest in a position within the
Obama Administration. You probably know (but I didn=92t!) that all
candidates have to fill out the initial form on
http://change.gov/page/s/application. Please let me know if we can be
helpful in any way.

Ellie Dehoney
Legislative Director
US Senator Sherrod Brown

--
Sarah Rimmington
Attorney
Essential Action, Access to Medicines Project
Washington, DC
Tel: (202) 387-8030
Cell: (202) 422-2687
www.essentialaction.org/access/