He’s usually a behind-the-scenes character, but figures prominently in the Zyprexa scandal.

Egilman, 53, a former expert witness for lawyers suing Eli Lilly, has emerged in what a federal court judge in New York calls a “conspiracy” to leak sealed documents to The New York Times. You can read more on the Torts Prof Blog. The Times reporter has been “invited” to appear in court this Wednesday to discuss how he received documents that suggest Eli Lilly allegedly hid harmful Zyprexa side effects and marketed the drug illegally.

For his part, Egilman will take the Fifth Amendment. Says his lawyer, Ed Hayes: “He could get in trouble for criminal contempt. We don’t want to take that chance.” Egilman’s voice mail says you can wind up in court just by leaving a message. Hayes adds, however, that Egilman remains an expert witness in Vioxx lawsuits (in both cases, he’s worked for Mark Lanier).

Who is Egilman? He practices medicine in Massachusetts and is an associate professor at Brown University. He also runs Never Again Consulting. Why that name? His father survived the Holocaust; other relatives didn’t.

Egilman, known for a sharp mind and sharp tongue, has engaged controversy before, mostly as an expert witness on both sides of the long-running asbestos litigation. Bad science, however, really irks him and so he once did something unorthodox to publicize what he considered important data about the effect of asbestos on Dow workers.

The underlying tension over confidential Zyprexa documents involves the public’s right to know about the way science is used and the rule of law, as in court orders. An intriguing question, though, is wither Dr. Egilman? Any guesses?

[tags]David Egilman, Eli Lilly, Mark Lanier, The New York Times, Zyprexa[/tags]