Transcript: Peter Rost Talks Turkey with Ed Silverman

By Ed Silverman and Agnes Shanley Why are you suing Pfizer for wrongful termination? You were terminated last year. What led to that? Very often, one thing leads to the next. I’d hoped to avoid this situation, but couldn’t, in the end, because of Pfizer’s actions. I was trying to work with the company for over a year. Some things they took care of. Some things they didn’t. After I outlined the situation in writing, they responded by writing that they would fire me. This is such a basic thing — how you don’t interact with someone who brings forward troubling information. Then things got quiet and they kept me on. I didn’t know what would happen. But the meetings with Pfizer’s lawyers became very hostile. So in the beginning of 2003, I contacted Pfizer in writing to make sure they understood what the concerns were here. They responded that they’ll fire me. It was a bit of a strange response. Also they didn’t tell anyone else at that point that they’d fire them. They waited until the actual acquisition (of Pharmacia) took place. And that’s when I got my first indication that people were not too happy about what I discussed with them and they took a very hostile approach. By mid-2003, Pfizer’s acquistion of Pharmacia was complete. You remained with the company, but isolated in your office in the New Jersey suburbs. Other Pharmacia employees were leaving — laid off, taking other positions. You got push back. You pursued the qui tam whistleblower litigation. You wrote in your book that you were isolated in your office. You weren’t sure who to report to. Meanwhile, you pursued your stance with the price of prescription drugs and went public and got a national profile. This takes us into 2004 and 2005.